Born in Barcelona to a Peruvian father and a Catalan mother, Cristian Zuzunaga He has lived in London for years, is in love with New York and has a lot to thank Shanghai for. A graphic artist, industrial and textile designer, and trained at the prestigious London College of Communication and Royal College of Arts, Zuzunaga shuns pigeonholing and believes that trial-and-error experimentation is the best way to grow as an artist and as a person.
His early work revolves around the world of the pixel and the architecture of supermodernity, with notable collaborations with Kvadrat, Christophe Delcourt, Ligne Roset, Nani Marquina or the Tate Gallery. In 2010 he opened his own studio.
M. -The origin...
C. -It all stems from an obsession with detail, colour and texture, and working with printing machines in a totally manual process... Normally error is discarded, but I didn't do it and this led me to look at pixelation and dirt in the image. Photography was the first step and from there I moved on to screen printing. Then I started to work with textiles in industrial applications...
M. -From typography to pixel...
C. I began to raise the negative space of typography to make it printable, and this led me to architecture, to the subject of weight, three-dimensionality, and finally to cities and their elements. From modernism, which was very structural, I moved on to postmodernism, to deconstruct everything, and then to supermodernism, applying new technologies and new materials, with more organic forms with light and transparencies. At this point I went to Shanghai and I was very surprised to see a city that has reinvented itself by combining elements of Las Vegas, New York and London but maintaining its structure. This trip was a shock and the moment from which I began to see the world in pixels.
M. -And you went back to London...
C. -It was very difficult for them to understand my proposal. There was a certain fear of colour... and precisely with the pixel you establish a dialogue, because every day you see an area, you reflect yourself and it makes you discover things about yourself.
M. -Does the market label and stifle creativity?
C. -So much so. In London I was asked "But what do you do, photography, design, illustration...? I don't understand this way of labelling... There are still instances that hold you back, but deep down this questioning is going very well. At the beginning I only found refusals, it was very hard... Until then it had been inevitable to produce with third parties, but now I have my own studio, which as a creative allows me to be part of the whole process and not have to negotiate everything.
It was very difficult for them to understand my proposal. There was a certain fear of colour and precisely with the pixel you establish a dialogue, because every day you see an area, you reflect yourself and it makes you discover things about yourself.
M. -Which way is your bet going?
C. -Colour and quality are the basis of the project, which will be materialised in a collection of accessories, for the home, for personal use... Everything that helps to define an identity, an identity, an identity, an identity. uniqueness. Unique products or products with small modifications that can be joined together to create very rich combinations. We will start here and in the future we will make furniture, we will work with glass, and we will apply the extraordinary techniques that I have seen recently in Morocco where they combine the classic with the modern in a masterly way. From an artistic point of view, what interests me most is evolution. I see the pixel theme at a business level as very profitable and possible, but at a creative level it limits me. Basically, my bet is directed towards a less cold and more organic design, in which you can live and which is durable, finding a middle ground between art and design without compromising quality.
M. -What is your creative process like?
C. -We live in a very technological world, but in the end you need scissors to cut paper. In my process I go from digital to real and from real to digital, establishing a link between old techniques and new techniques. I think that everything has been invented and it's all about making associations and reinventing it well.
M. -Are you concerned about production processes?
C. -Very much so. I prefer to avoid producing outside Europe and work with companies that are committed to people and the environment, with which we may take longer but we will do things better.
M. -¿How do you see Barcelona?
C. -I think things have been done well, but I think that initiatives like yours are long overdue. They give a different kind of value to the city, a city that has become very overcrowded and has burnt its image a bit. I think we need to learn from cities like London, which are much more respectful of their heritage, as well as being much more welcoming and helpful to entrepreneurs.
M. -Tell me about the chromatic identity of cities. What colour does Barcelona have for you?
C. -A brown-earth with a blue dot and a bit of green. I grew up in La Floresta and for me it's like a lung for the city. And Shanghai, London and New York? Shanghai is red, black and white. It's a huge city, as big as London and as tall as New York. The old part is a trip to the early 20th century and the new part is Blade Runner times ten. London is more grey, yellow and black but without stridency, where each building has a different identity... And New York, because of its height, has dark greys and the points of colour are in the lower area.
Quick questionnaire:
A before and after in your career: When in 2004 I discovered letterpress, letterpress printing... I also graduated from the Royal College...
A movementModernism.
A bookDerrida. Jung, Psychology and alchemy. And Ching. Herman Hesse, almost everything. Italo Calvino, The Invisible Cities.
A filmBlade Runner.
Music: I like a bit of everything... It depends on the moment.
Anti-heroesFame for the sake of fame. Incongruity.
The order of your dreamsBuf! Working with a good architect and doing all the interior design combining mosaic with fabrics... Some public works too...
The most highly-regarded project: Working with my friends. Creating an environment that goes beyond work and seeing a project come to fruition that you would not have been able to do on your own.
Born in Barcelona, Cristian Zuzunaga has been living in London for 10 years and is in love with New York. Graphic artist, industrial and textile designer.
