Surfing out the Metaverse – a celebration of life.

“Surfing Out of the Metaverse,” a dynamic artwork crafted from recycled carbon fiber. This piece redefines the conventional practice of translating real objects into the virtual world by drawing a kitesurf board from the digital realm into reality. Designed by the artist, this board symbolizes the exhilarating rush of adrenaline felt during extreme sports.

11 July 2024

The artwork draws a striking parallel with the renowned “Cristo Velato,” a sculpture famed for its intricate detailing of tissue waves in marble. In “Surfing Out of the Metaverse,” the artist masters carbon fiber to achieve a similarly precious effect. Despite its appearance of soft, flowing tissue, the material is in fact a very rigid structure, showcasing the artist’s technical prowess and innovative use of advanced materials.

“Surfing Out of the Metaverse” is an invitation to bring the vibrancy and excitement of the virtual world into our tangible experiences. The artist’s use of carbon fiber, known for its strength and lightweight properties, adds depth and resilience to the piece. The board’s intricate design and bold colors capture the essence of adventure and the human spirit’s drive to explore beyond boundaries.

This artwork challenges viewers to break free from the confines of the digital world and immerse themselves fully in real-life experiences. It celebrates the fusion of technology and nature, urging us to balance our virtual engagements with genuine, physical adventures. “Surfing Out of the Metaverse” is not just a piece of art; it’s a call to action to live life to the fullest and embrace the thrill of the unknown

Sergio Durante among the big artist of the last century 

9 April 2024

It is with immense pride and gratitude that I announce my inclusion in the prestigious 2024 Yearbook of Modern Art Artists. This esteemed publication, spanning 600 pages, showcases the masterpieces of renowned artists such as Chagall, De Chirico, Fontana, Gattuso, Mirò, Modigliani, Monet, Picasso, Schifano, Shimamoto, Warhol, and now, myself, Sergio Durante. To be featured alongside such titans of the art world is a humbling honor. Furthermore, I am deeply moved to have been granted the privilege of adorning the second cover page, a testament to the recognition of my artistic contributions. This recognition serves as both validation and inspiration, motivating me to continue pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and contributing to the rich tapestry of modern art.

My artistic creations are a fusion of sculpture and painting, crafted from a truly unique material: recycled carbon fibers. Utilizing my proprietary technology, I extract these carbon fibers from components once integral to airplanes or motorsport race cars. These fibers, with their rich history and intrinsic resilience, are repurposed to form intricate and captivating artworks that embody a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation.

Each piece I create is a testament to the synergy between advanced technology and inspired artistry. Through meticulous craftsmanship and a mastery of techniques, I transform these recycled fibers into captivating sculptures that evoke a sense of wonder and nostalgia. Handmade with care and precision, my artworks transcend their material origins to become powerful symbols of resilience, endurance, and creativity.

I like to envision that each carbon fiber carries with it a story—a tale of past triumphs, adrenaline-fueled races, or perhaps even daring military missions. In my artworks, these fibers find new life, imbuing each piece with a sense of depth and narrative that resonates with viewers on a profound level. From the sleek curves of a race car to the aerodynamic lines of a fighter jet, my creations celebrate the spirit of exploration, innovation, and human achievement.

Join me on a journey through time and space, where the echoes of the past mingle with visions of the future. Through my art, I invite you to experience the beauty, complexity, and boundless potential of recycled carbon fibers—the building blocks of a new artistic frontier.

The modernity of a classic who lives the future.

But look at the hydrogen silent in the sea
Look at the oxygen next to her sleeping
Only a law that I can understand
She was able to marry them without making them explode…
Fabrizio De André, “A Chemist”
from “Not to money, not to love nor to heaven”, 1971

15 March 2024

The background

1950: Mr. Abbott produces carbon fiber by bringing rayon to a temperature of almost 1000 °C, obtaining a material resistant beyond belief.
1958: Roger Bacon, materials scientist, creates the first high-performance carbon fiber.
A year later, Akio Shindo improves the characteristics of carbon fiber produced from polyacrylonite.
E. Fitzer and H. Schlesinger, in 1966, produced carbon fiber from the gaseous phase..

The meaning

To avoid dusting off elements of chemistry and physics hidden in the abandoned school books on the top shelf of the bookcase, let’s think about the nose of a racing car of the kind driven by Mr. John Watson in 1981. On a Saturday in July, at Silverstone , in the racetrack created from a runway of a military airport during the Second World War, Watson drives a Mc Laren MP 4/1, made with a carbon fiber monocoque. He wins and inaugurates an era that still speaks volumes about him today, as in bicycles, tennis rackets, protective helmets, aircraft coverings, canoes and in many, many fields of application. We would have liked to see the faces of the mechanics from the other teams, accustomed to the clang of the nose being detached from the cars they were assisting, suffering from the cuts caused by the sheet metal, metal that became incandescent due to the friction and heat of the cars launched at impossible speeds. Some turned up their noses, others christened the matter as a gimmick with no future. But everyone, all over the world, had to change their minds, and today the “made of carbon fiber” is usual, customary. Even discounted.

A material that smells of modernity and of the future, which covers the slender body of fighters launched in the skies of the world, which lightens the structures and offers resistance greater than that of steel. When the carbon fiber racket was proposed to tennis players, the woods of the glorious previous ones sadly went into retirement. The wrist worked free from excessive weight and the ball shot away faster than ever. We leave the details to the technicians, but take that invention as the first data to evaluate the work of an artist who produces contemporary art with carbon fiber: Sergio Durante. He certainly has the notions of a sculptor, or, better, of a modeler who has in his fingertips the ability to feel the material and make it come alive under the command of inspiration and the mind. He has respect for the forms that marble, stone, bronze and wood have received from the masters of past centuries, and he often takes inspiration from the historical three-dimensional ones to revisit well-known sculptures. Above all, he has a clear perception of the concept of the future, well planted on scientific criteria of solidity, realism and respect for the past. But, let the technologists-at-all-costs not be scandalized, he has the imagination, curiosity and romanticism necessary to face the creation of a work of art with a dreamer’s spirit.

….

A delicate and tiring composition, a meeting of technique, style and class. A continuous echo of classical notions of immortal Greek and Roman art. By proposing his works through the processing of carbon fibre, Durante writes a new era, sweetens the pill for purists and stimulates the imagination of those who are always ready for new frontiers. In this, and in his frequenting of environments in which the lightness of the fiber is a fixed rule, lies his exclusive and precious activity as an artist: adapting to the taste of those who love to stand out in their choices all those studies and efforts that have already led him to tops of industrial production for racing cars, airplanes, hulls. He does so without ever forgetting that he is an Italian in the category of Filippo Parodi, a magnificent sculptor in eighteenth-century Genoa, and that of Giovanni Andrea De Ferrari, who with his works made the excessive economic power of the Republic of Genoa resonate. The spirit of the lover of the endless classic is indeed the stimulus that brought Sergio Durante this far, that is, to a very high point in the quality and values of Italian art that travels the world.

Giorgio Barassi

Director of Art & Art Revue – December/January 2023-2024

Art Critic and Anchor man of the ‘Art&Investment’ SKY TV Channel