Ibercivis, in collaboration with AITIIP Centro Tecnológico and Tecnopackaging, organized the training day “Exploring the artistic possibilities of ATRIUM materials”.
The event brings the new bio-based materials developed within the project closer to the fields of art and design.
The ATRIUM project, co-funded by the European Union, is an Innovation Action (IA) dedicated to promoting the sustainable use of biologically-sourced materials for the production of biocomposites aimed at developing five new products for the construction sector.
ATRIUM wants to explore other potential uses for its materials, and to that end Zaragoza hosts a demonstration site for the project, where its possibilities and application limits will be explored by transferring them to new contexts, especially the fields of art and design. In this way, the project seeks to generate new innovation opportunities through interaction between different disciplines, also incorporating citizen science methodologies.
From the lab to art
The event brought together artists and teaching staff from the Escuela Superior de Diseño de Aragón (ESDA) and the Escuela de Artes de Zaragoza, who had the chance to see firsthand some of the bio-based materials developed within ATRIUM.
During the session, participants visited the AITIIP and Tecnopackaging laboratories, learned about the manufacturing and processing methods behind these materials, and were able to have their questions answered about their technical possibilities. The gathering also served as a chance to exchange ideas and begin defining possible artistic projects and pieces to be developed with students in the project’s next phases.
The training thus serves as a practical bridge between the educational and artistic fields and the materials developed through research and technological innovation, opening up a space to experiment with new forms of creation.
The Plant Machine: when technology becomes artistic matter
The event also featured Zaragoza-based artist Néstor Lizalde, creator of The Plant Machine, a new exhibition project that will use ATRIUM materials in a proposal connecting art, technology and innovation.
The Plant Machine proposes an artistic investigation into the materials developed by ATRIUM and the imaginaries that emerge from the relationship between nature, industry and technology. Far from being conceived as a technical showcase, the exhibition will use the biomaterials as a starting point to explore light, sound, space and perception.
Their properties — such as texture, density, porosity, and their light and acoustic behavior — will become elements of artistic experimentation. The project thus sits between organic matter and industrial manufacturing, between biological growth and computational control, carrying lab-based research into the cultural sphere.
In this way, ATRIUM opens up its materials to new forms of experimentation, allowing the knowledge generated in the labs to engage in dialogue with the public’s creativity and experience. This collaboration between researchers, artists, designers, teachers and citizens — driven by Ibercivis through its role in ATRIUM — opens up other ways of observing and interpreting bio-based materials, and represents an opportunity to contribute, from different perspectives, to the transition toward more sustainable and circular production models.