ABOUT – BASHIBA – Immersive Experiences by Roberto Vitalini

about

Roberto Vitalini

Roberto Vitalini is a Swiss video artist renowned for his immersive, large-scale installations that transcend spatial boundaries and create the illusion of infinite emotional landscapes.

Since 2009, his collaboration with Daniele Finzi Pasca and the Compagnia Finzi Pasca has integrated video into impactful theatrical, acrobatic, operatic, and Olympic ceremony productions. For the Sochi 2014 Olympics, Vitalini designed the 3D video experience for a monumental kinetic LED tube forest, a suspended structure dominating the stadium. In 2017, during Avudo in Montréal, his generative ocean was projected onto an architectural structure of 100 maritime containers, spanning 120 meters by 50 meters in the city’s bay. His latest work, "Ocean 88," a dreamlike piece projected on a 3,788-square-meter screen in Chongqing’s Guanyinqiao Commercial District, reflects his ongoing pursuit of new frontiers in art and technology. Roberto Vitalini lives in Lugano with his wife Jeanne and their two children, where he continues to explore artistic experimentation.

Quotes from the Press:

Financial Times - 28.04.2023 "The stage area is a triangle, open to us on one side, with two curtained walls. On these, videos by Roberto Vitalini show us a galaxy of stars, seas at night and other vast contexts within which one human situation becomes central."

The Guardian - 28.04.2023
"Roberto Vitalini’s mesmeric video design and Jon Driscoll’s haunting lighting are major elements in the production’s success, as is Bywater’s set."

Le Temps - 13.09.2019
« Sur le plateau, c’est une fête incessante de projections vidéo (Roberto Vitalini) entre nuages, eau, fumées. Plongée dans l’infini scientifique ou envol vers le mystère de la vie. »

I. Important Productions
Zaryadye Concert Hall in Moscow (2020): an immersive installation where 24 of the best organists in the world took it in turns to play for 24 hours non-stop.
Fête des Vignerons (2019), Switzerland, 375’000 spectators, part of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Created the generative videos for the world’s largest outdoor led floor 783 m2.
Avudo (2017), Montréal, Canada, 249000 spectators. Created the generative content for the outdoor video projection (120 meters x 50 meters video surface).
Sochi Olympic Games (2014), Fisht Olympic Stadium, Russia
Created the volumetric videos for the massive kinetic LED sculpture featuring over 20km of video LED strips for the Olympic closing ceremony and the Paralympic opening ceremony.

II. Video Design for Opera
Roberto has been video set designer for the operas Zarqa Al Jamama (Sheikh Fahad Cultural Centre, Riyadh 2024), Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Henryk Górecki (English National Opera, 2023), Les Contes d' Hoffmann - Hoffmanns Erzählungen (Staatsoper Hamburg 2021), Einstein on the Beach (Grand Théâtre de Genève 2019), Carmen (Teatro San Carlo, 2015 and 2017), La Traviata (Mariinsky II Theatre, 2015, now in the repertoire), L’Amour de loin (English National Opera, 2009, the Vlaamse Opera, 2010, and the Canadian Opera Company, 2012), Aida (Mariinsky Theatre, 2011, now in the repertoire and recipient of a nomination for the Golden Mask), Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi (Mariinsky Theatre, 2012, now in the repertoire).

III. Video Mapping & Public Media Artwork
Ocean88, in Chongqing Guanyinqiao Business District on a 3788 square meters screen (2024 Public Media Artwork, Naked-Eye 3D, China) ; Liquid Light AI | Mantes-la Jolie (2023 Video Mapping for CosmoAV, France) ; T1gers | Chongqing International Light Art Festival (2023 Video Mapping, China) ; BASHIBA Red Dream | Shenzhen (2022 Public Media Artwork, China) ; Rouen Cathedral in Light | Rouen (2022 Video Mapping, point cloud trip for CosmoAV, France).

IV. Video Design for Theatre & Show-Installation
The Sense Gallery (2024), Azul (2022, with Stefano Accorsi), Nuda (2021, ongoing world tour), Luna Park (2020, show-installation), Abrazos (2019, presented at the fair Feria de León in Mexico to an audience of 200,000 spectators), Per Te (2016, ongoing world tour), Bianco su Bianco (2014, ongoing world tour), La Verità (2013, ongoing world tour) and Donka - A Letter to Chekhov (2010, ongoing world tour).

Roberto Vitalini >> Bio (pdf)

Roberto Vitalini >> Generative Video Artist (pdf)

PRESS & AWARDS

// 30.09.2024 Ocean 88 for Chongqing 3788 3D Screen
国庆节来重庆街头“看海”！观音桥裸眼3D巨幕上新-华龙网 (cqnews.net)
重庆街头现“海洋奇观” 吸引民众眼球-中新网重庆 (chinanews.com.cn)
>> 3788巨幕×瑞士艺术家Roberto Vitalini 3D数字艺术大片《Ocean 88》亮相重庆-数艺网 (d-arts.cn)
>> 十月重磅! DIGMEGA × Roberto Vitalini《Ocean 88》震撼献映 (qq.com)

// 20.04.2024 Art Emerging Award
Won the award in the 2024 Anhui Shenfu "Fu" Culture International Digital Art Competition

// 28.04.2023 Financial Times: 4/5 stars
English National Opera’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs — the effect is enthralling | Financial Times (ft.com)
"The stage area is a triangle, open to us on one side, with two curtained walls. On these, videos by Roberto Vitalini show us a galaxy of stars, seas at night and other vast contexts within which one human situation becomes central."

// 28.04.2023 The Guardian: 4/5 stars
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs review – Gorecki’s triptych retains its visceral power in thoughtful staging
| Classical music | The Guardian
"Roberto Vitalini’s mesmeric video design and Jon Driscoll’s haunting lighting are major elements in the production’s success, as is Bywater’s set."

// 28.04.2023 The Telegraph: 4/5 stars
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, ENO, London Coliseum, review: a powerful staging of a dark classic – and a sharp warning for the Arts Council (telegraph.co.uk)

// 28.04.2023 The Times: 5/5 stars
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs review — a hauntingly beautiful staging (thetimes.co.uk)

// 28.04.2023 The Stage: 5/5 stars
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs review at London Coliseum (thestage.co.uk) : “Visionary”

// 28.04.2023 Planet Hugill: Henryk Górecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs at ENO in an astonishing visual treat from Isabella Bywater. "Bywater's production gave us some astonishing imagery. It wasn't a dramatisation so much as a poetic visual meditation on the music."

Tribune de Genève (2019)

«Einstein on the Beach» éblouit sur la scène et dans la fosse du Grand Théâtre. "Prenez la vidéo conçue par Roberto Vitalini. Elle a donné du relief à la toile posée régulièrement sur le devant de la scène et accompagné des jeux d’ombres chinoises saisissants, faits de ruptures d’échelle entre les objets et les personnages projetés. Tout est question de relativité et de points de vue, nous dit ce petit tour de magie."

- Rocco Zacheo

Le Temps (2019)

"Sur le plateau, c’est une fête incessante de projections vidéo entre nuages, eau, fumées, plongée dans l’infini scientifique ou envol vers le mystère de la vie. Si les images et les notes semblent parfois se dissocier et se distendre, si le style prolifique des unes peut quelquefois perturber l’organisation intime très fine et délicate de l’autre, leur rencontre produit un effet aussi éblouissant que touchant. A l’image de cette bibliothèque d’Einstein montant vers le ciel, de ces bicyclettes volantes et scènes balnéaires aux échos d’enfance, ou naïade aux ondoiements rouges évoluant dans un aquarium illuminé."

- Sylvie Bonier

Neue Zürcher Zeitung (2019)

"Und eine 3-D-Videotechnik auf dem neuesten Stand (Video: Roberto Vitalini) bewirkt, dass man immer wieder den Boden unter den Füssen verliert. Da schaut man auf eine Wolkendecke- oder ist es Wasser? -, und plötzlich verwandelt sich das in eine apokalyptische Achterbahn."

- Thomas Schachers