UN/PARALLEL VISIONS Matteo Cibic

Matteo Cibic (b. 1983, Parma, Italy) is a groundbreaking trans media creator who uses his craft to explore the world and imagine utopian futures. Through his sculptural practice, he imbues everyday objects with a soul and personality, treating them as personas that bridge the gap between the animate and inanimate. For over a decade, he has conducted “a sociological research about colors and objects,” investigating how they shape our daily lives. Cibic’s work is rooted in pareidolia—the tendency to perceive faces or emotions in inanimate objects. Since 2022, he has extended this exploration to study plants’ emotions and knowledge, creating visual languages to map their interactions. By blending innovative production methods with traditional craftsmanship from around the globe, he challenges material boundaries an reimagines how objects can interact with their surroundings. At the core of Cibic’s work is his playful zoomorphic pottery, inspired by plant-like forms. His creations provoke joy and wonder while raising profound questions about humanity’s role in a world increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. Drawing on figures like Ernst Haeckel and Luigi Serafini, Cibic crafts speculative narratives where organic and artificial worlds meet in unexpected ways. One of his most iconic projects, VasoNaso, exemplifies his unique fusion of humor, creativity, and rigorous experimentation with ceramics. For Cibic, even the slightest shift in form can suggest an entirely new species, sparking a playful yet meaningful exploration of evolution and diversity. Through his work, Matteo Cibic invites us to embrace the fantastical and reimagine the familiar, offering glimpses of futures where objects, plants, and technology coexist in joyful,  unpredictable harmony.