AI Artist Mattia Cuttini: Defined Undefined

Dec 15, 2020 Artist Statements

SuperRare

3 years ago

Editorial is open for submissions: [email protected]

Mattia Cuttini – Since 1979 I observe the world with curiosity. I studied electronics and worked in the sector for 10 years. I reinvented myself as designer. Musician since forever, I explored the visual and performance arts and I’ve realized that my research is a matter of layers and overlapping interventions.

(Left to Right) Defined #2, Undefined #2, Mattia Cuttini, 2020

Situated at the intersection of graphic design and blockchain technology, Italian artist Mattia Cuttini expands artistic practice using artificial intelligence. Pushing the boundaries and questioning the relationship between technology and art, Cuttini is led to the world of Cryptocurrency as the future of global art markets.

Based in Italy, the artist pursued his education in technology and later reinvented himself as an artist, utilizing several mediums beyond visual, including music and performance art. Now at the forefront of cryptography, Cuttini’s art practice usually results from a sequence of interventions that vary in complexity. Aiming to mold the artificial into the natural, and distort or transform the natural into the artificial, the artist uses the AI tool as a companion, and seeks error from the computer whose objective is to mirror outputs from inputs.

Undefined #6, Mattia Cuttini, 2020

Breaking Art to Generate Artistic Errors

Cuttini’s quest for artistic error dates from the emergence of the Internet when the artist used xerox copier machines to produce works. As the son of a xerox machine repair mechanic, Cuttini was familiar with the technology and processes of digital machine error. Fascinated by its mechanism, Cuttini began experimenting; shaking the copier, pushing it, feeding it several different images, and to an extent aiming to damage its capabilities of reproduction.

Now as the Artist-in-Residence for Playform, a no-code AI platform for artists, Cuttini’s pursuit for error plays an integral role in his latest exhibition, Defined Undefined. The artist’s process begins by feeding hundreds of ink stamped papers into the AI generation, resulting in glitch and pattern to the artist’s liking. The 12 selected works challenge notions of digital reproduction and mirroring, and investigate the relationship between human touch and technology.

Mattia Cuttini photographed by Benedetta Folena, 2020

The new frontier of art and technology

Defined Undefined will be tokenized on SuperRare Tuesday, December 15, 2020. Two selections of works will be released by announcement.

Mattia Cuttini will be hosting an Artist Talk on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, to share his process using Playform, his exhibition Defined Undefined, and his personal experiences navigating the crypto art market. Attendees will get an additional 5 Playform credits ($25 value). You can register for the event at playform.io/superrare.