The creative process, many people believe, is all about making connections. How and why that happens differs for each individual, but it’s tremendously exciting when a range of things that interest and inspire you suddenly come together to form the seedling of an idea.
Take Álvaro Peñalta. The Barcelona-based art director’s series “Point” is based, he explains, on the playful illusions of op-art, the forms favoured by the Bauhaus design school, the colour scheme of the Olympic rings and the energy of the avant-garde Triadic ballet.
“I think it came to my mind because the four references have in common simplicity of forms, clear compositions, reduced chromatic range and proportions studied to the millimeter,” he says.
Working with Natxo Ramón and Mariano Bascuñana, Álvaro began with sketches which they then transformed into physical models, painstakingly making sure they scaled up the sketches exactly. But there were physical challenges on set too, as they were using transparent nylon threads to keep the individual models suspended where they needed them.
“We had to calculate the distance carefully and was it very easy for the parts to unbalance,” he explains.
In the coming months Álvaro is keen to concentrate on audiovisual work, bringing his vibrant aesthetic to life and he is also working with a watch brand on its product shoots. Meanwhile he will be waiting for the next unlikely creative collision which will surely lead to even more exceptional personal projects.
