Excerpt from the interview for About Magazine given in May 2021.
In recent months, I have finally been able to re-experience some moments, experiences and inner journeys after a period of study and discovery. Like many, I too took advantage of the winter to reflect and, as a creative
“Multifaceted, eclectic, versatile, multifaceted…” which I have been called, I could only give vent to these thoughts in my projects.
That’s where “The Essence” for example, the latest solo piano record that encapsulates what I have found to be really the essentials for me, came from; released a few months ago, it has reached the intimacy of many of you and I am very happy about it.
-> Listen to the essence
However, I cannot define myself only as a “musician”-I have other sides of me to give voice to. In doing so, I metAbout. Sara Santori of About immediately understood my being “multifaceted,” delving into one of my creative projects in an interview to discover the many faces of creativity, which are often difficult to define. That’s why his first question was, I don’t want to ask you to define yourself, but if you were to tell who you are today, what would you say?
I could only respond with the three words I always say: I am a creative, a composer, and a writer. Certainly more immediate than what could actually be encapsulated in the concept of ” multidisciplinary” or “multi-potential.” The common thread that holds everything together always remains creativity, the one key word.
I told Sara that in Italy I felt lonely a few years ago(out of this loneliness was later born the song “Incompreso”): being multidisciplinary in Italy is often not understood and seems almost like a way of doing nothing, while abroad it is more common than we think.
So many times I have received comments such as, “this onewants to do everything” or “but what does this one do in life?“
For years it was difficult for me to recognize and accept it, I kept my various activities separate but now everything has merged. DeLord is both a creative, a composer and a writer. I no longer hide my various passions, and more and more often I find that this is the reason I get called on for projects and collaborations.
One of the projects that has lent itself most to collaboration is VETA, and About has been interested in its particularity.
Here is an excerpt from the About Magazine interview.
“The VETA Light project began in 2014, Christian tells me it is a reflection on the historical memory we are losing, “the televisions I use are iconic objects of a past that should be preserved, a vehicle to remind us where we came from and to better look to the future.””
Concretely, what led to the creation of such a work was the desire to empty the object of its original meaning and give it a new one: to convey the emotions communicated by colors to people and environments.
According to the principles of color therapy, in fact, colors influence the way we perceive our surroundings and the emotions that run through us.
VETA encompasses several aspects, goals and potentials that perhaps even I did not recognize at its inception. That’s why Sara is keen to ask just where this project had come from. The answer is actually very simple: I had 30 vintage televisions in my house, which I collected as objects that designers had made unique but without even knowing the real reason why they attracted me so much, “maybe the universe was sending me a message to get to this project.”
Almost for fun, in fact, one day I decided to open one of the televisions and “play” with materials, lights and objects to give it a new life. This is what VETA is-a new destiny of design, a new paradox of consumption and design that overturns the logic of the original object.
What is so special about these objects, you may be wondering. About was also curious about it, asking me, “Do you choose particular devices?”
The common thread is the 1960s and 1970s, small transportable televisions, like those used to picnic, or medium-sized televisions. The big ones, on the other hand, I only look for in wood, 1950s and 1960s. Years that are very striking to me because of their uniqueness. Today everything seems more standardized to me, I think of smartphones for example, there is not much difference between them. Do you agree?
Author projects: VETA and the paradox of creative art, today find their space.
Just for this approval, then, where can VETA’s lights and special features be shown?
“Christian,” Sara tells About, “used VETA TV lamps during his theater concerts, during which he would match colors to the music, choosing a unique color or shades to represent the emotion encapsulated within that piece.”
For me, every color expresses a state of the soul, and there is no better medium to speak to it than music.
The concert is a time of collective meditation, in which we make music together. Different levels of perception are activated: if you work only on the music you interact on the listening level; by adding color I noticed that people went beyond the music.
But that’s not all, VETA Lights were also presented at Salone del Mobile 2016, Bologna Design Week 2018 and 2019, and an exhibit for Artefiera 2020, as well as private events and installations.
“During the exhibitions, visitors are given a remote control to experience the different effects of color on their emotions and the space around them.”
This possibility actually has many more effects than it might seem, encapsulating the ultimate goal of VETA. In fact, “VETA” itself is but an acronym that encapsulates the key elements: Video- Emotion – Time – Audience. In my hands the Audio element has remained, emotions have become color, time is memory, the audience now refers to the transmission of emotions, not mass.
You may have noticed, like Sara, that “The theme of emotions comes back often.” And it is. I remember what was said to me during one of my most recent concerts, “Your music goes beyond the perceptible.” Playing instrumental music with the piano, I work a lot on emotions, to convey meaning through sound, and succeeding, on myself and others, is what drives me on my path.
Emotions have always been the central part. They are always parts of you, especially the ones that scare you. Being able to do this is something that I myself have accepted only in recent years.
The challenge is to bring out our uniqueness. We often grow up with idols to which we aspire, not realizing that being famous is not the same as being a successful person. If with your project you have changed the lives of 100 people, that is your success. When I am 100 years old, I want something useful to remain for the community of tomorrow.
Devoting energy and time to something you love is good for you and good for others, and allows for peaceful production even in complicated times. Suffice it to say that in this winter, I took advantage of the situation to write almost 3 albums and get ahead of the curve with the realization of pieces in the VETA collection, increasing from 20 to 50 light works, with a view to some installations being planned for 2022 and 2023.
But what is VETA‘s true home, where do I see her soul? Why this project?
About investigates, asking, “If you could choose another place for one of your works? Who would you like to have a VETA lamp?”
“David Bowie, definitely. And I could say maybe New York, where vintage is highly valued and at the Tate Museum in London.”
But the truth is another. The place I dream for VETA is in a public park, where every person can have a color bath. I would like a project to be as widespread as possible, for a social purpose as well, I would like it not to be an object for a few but to be extended to all.
The Tate project may seem presumptuous, but it is a world-renowned institution, and I know how much a work can be amplified if it does good-that’s the beauty of it.
One proof of this is the music, which is capable of beautiful things. For example, in Mexico, a girl had decided that she was going to marry the man who was going to play one of my pieces. He meets a boy, a sportsman, who had never played the piano. He sets out to study and proposes to her by playing one of my pieces. After the wedding they came to Italy and I met them. I covered this story in Sole24ore for Graziano Origa.
This is success for me, I see happiness in others and I am happy. This is the purpose. The will to do good.”
Come and discover my light works at InnoBrain Studio, 93/2 Michelino Street, Bologna.
Full interview visible at this link.
