HAVE YOU MET ANDREA CAMMAROSANO?
Who is Andrea Cammarosano? Let’s ask the internet:
The G(oogle): “Andrea Cammarosano is an Italian-born designer, artist and educator.”
The (insta)Gram: Andrea Ciarlatano “I put things in my head”
One description is certainly clearer than the other, yet, presenting Andrea and his world, because of how rich and open it is, is a difficult task which, with the help of the being himself, we ventured to do.
Andrea Cammarosano is, by training, a fashion designer and he’s been for more than 10 year. He’s worked on various projects, some bigger, some smaller, some including big names, some not including any. Andrea’s work and its resonance are easy to find online, so we’re dedicating this intro to the switch in Andrea’s creative path which happened his early 30s:
“Instead of my work being goal-specified, like designing clothes, I wanted to use elements like images, objects and garments with the intention to keep it more open. I started to take more of an Art direction; I started to design sets, I created costumes for plays and I initiated new collaborations with designers. But, what is important here is the way these projects started: improvisation, recycling materials, essentially keeping things more open. I would focus more on the materials around me than the result itself. Now, when people ask me what I do, I answer ‘I do thing and I see people’ as most of my recent work has been around education. The different methods I use, like improv’ or simply ‘doing with what you have’ happen to be very useful for students and also people with only few means. Basically, I try to do activities that can form an instinctive relationship to materials. This is very important in how it shapes my current collaborations, with schools, museums and other institutions.”
WHAT’S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH E-O?
“Early this summer, I gave an online tutorial with Extra-Ordinaire where I designed a mask from scratch in the context of the BOTTLE-MASK raffle which was intended to raise awareness and money to QUORE; a social promotion organization supporting activities aimed at LGBTQI people in Torino, Italy. This Month, my CAT was screen-printed on E-O’s latest T-shirt. The CAT is an example of my work around improvisation. For me, drawing is probably the easiest and quickest medium to let myself play. I have a collection of drawings – Instagram: Porconissimo – that are playful, funny, sometimes sexual, sometimes not, it’s really improv’.”
WHERE DO YOU LIVE & WHERE DO YOU COME FROM ORIGINALLY?
“I live in Milan and my studio is here. I’m originally from Trieste in the north of Italy. My family is not originally from there as they move to Trieste for work, we’re actually from the south. The south – its loudness and liveliness – has shaped my childhood a lot as we’d travel there on vacation.”
QUESTIONS
NAME 1 PERSON, 1 PLACE, 1 OBJECT THAT SHAPED PAST, PRESENT AND INSPIRES YOUR FUTURE.
Person: “The child I was, the man I am, the person I’d like to become. Not in the sense that I am my own inspiration. But that I have learned – and I am still learning – that you must try to be rooted in your sensations as you build the things you build around yourself and in relationships you forge with others. »
Place: “Antwerp, San Francisco, Milan. Antwerp was my infancy – first baby steps and creative secretions. Some of the languages I use now are rooted to my time in Antwerp – but it took years for them to evolve into what I do today. San Francisco was a cultural shock – I didn’t experience it like that at the time when I lived there. Looking back on that experience I recognize how much it formed me – the use of performance, collaboration, the social and political relevance of small playful actions. And Milan is the present and the future, the place where I’m building the rest of everything and the nest of CLUTTER. »
Object: Tools. Objects that are used to make other objects. I will leave it at that without any further specification. I like objects with open, transformative qualities. Creativity is all about creating something that can create something else – whether an image, an object or an experience.
HOW DO YOU FIND THE EXTRA IN THE ORDINARY IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE?
“By using spontaneity. Spontaneity is very important, but under its apparent simplicity it requires deep concentration, strong connection with materials, and hours and hours of exercise before it can actually flow into what you do. I try to exercise it by testing and exploring lots of different materials, enacting lots of collaboration and exchanges – especially in classrooms, and with long bike trips in nature. Also, I use drawing as a sort of meditation. Of a playful kind!”
WHAT MAKES E-O PHILOSOPHY SO EXTRA-ORDINARY?
“E.O. philosophy has lots of quality which resonates with what I do. Art and creativity are ultimately rooted in ordinary experiences – in our sensory perceptions, social relations, ordinary actions. But too many of our ordinary actions are distracted, confused and discontinuous. I think walking around E.O. excites your senses and makes you aware of stories and connections that make objects – and everyday life – so much more attentive and stimulating. This is an important quality that objects can have – and therefore I say BRAVO for what you do!!”