Eating the Planet
Eating the Planet
Virtual reality installations by Valentina Furian and Claudia Losi
Curated by Officine Creative / University of Pavia
The exhibition presents, for the first time, two virtual reality works by artists Valentina Furian and Claudia Losi that explore the relationship between humans, animals, and the environment. The installations guide viewers through immersive landscapes addressing crucial contemporary issues, narrating the transformation of living beings and their complex relationship with natural resources.
The works, part of the European PNRR ONFOODS project, were produced by the Officine Creative laboratory for visual and performing arts at the University of Pavia, as part of a project curated by Anna Calise, Stefano Conca Bonizzoni, and Elisabetta Modena.
BITE
by Valentina Furian
2025, VR installation, 180° video, 360° audio
7’ loop
BITE is an immersive VR installation that explores the relationship between humans and dogs, highlighting the dynamics of power between dominance, training, and rebellion. Through light and darkness, the viewer experiences a suspended state between reality and hallucination, oscillating between a sense of control and its loss. The figure of the dog embodies both cooperation and predatory instinct, evoking the ambivalences of domestication and revealing the subtle line separating power and vulnerability. The experience leads the viewer to confront the complexity and ambiguity of every power relationship.
Production: Officine Creative – University of Pavia; camera and video editing: Stefano Conca Bonizzoni; sound design: Fullcode Studio; sound: Silvia Brizzi; lighting: Pietro Carubelli; graphics: Giulia Ballarin; dog: Maverick; trainers: Stefano Cetto, Silvia Thaler; assistant trainer: Chiara Tiziani; dog training center: BADOG; assistants:Gianluca Menon, Giulia Ballarin
Valentina Furian (Venice, 1989) explores the relationship between humans and animals, the natural and the artificial, through moving images and time-based installations. Her research investigates perception, behavior, and transformation, creating experiences suspended between reality and fiction. Her works have been exhibited in international institutions such as: ISCP – International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York; Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires; Pearl Art Museum, Shanghai; Rencontres Internationales, Paris/Berlin; IIC Paris; Sunaparanta Center for Contemporary Art, Goa; IIC Mumbai; MAXXI, Rome; MUSE, Trento; MAMbo, Bologna; Triennale di Milano; Lo schermo dell’arte, Florence.
Anìmule VR. The Subtle World
by Claudia Losi
2025, VR installation, 180° video, 360° audio, carpet dimensions: approx. 200 cm in diameter
16’
Anìmule VR. The Subtle World transports the visitor into imaginary paper landscapes, whose inhabitants come to life in hybrid and mutable forms through light and shadow. Animal and plant, human and “more-than-human” figures merge and transform, evoking metamorphoses and role exchanges between prey and predator. Voices of women of different languages and ages accompany the narrative, weaving words and sounds that reflect on the relationship between resources, food, and life. The work intertwines myth and technology, ancient roots and futuristic projections, questioning the fragility of living beings and their transformations.
Production: Officine Creative – University of Pavia; VR modeling and animation: Studio Microchaos; sound: Davide Cristiani – sound engineer at Groundfloor Studio; voices: Chiara Bersani, Vittoria Fanelli, Judy Jacanamejoy Chicunque, Gjyli Leka, Claudia Losi, Inesa Martsinkevich, Simone Rega; field recordings: Carolina Casali, Davide Cristiani, Claudia Losi, Giorgia Mascia; original texts by: Claudia Losi and quotes/reworkings from: Roberto Calasso, David George Haskel, Éveline Lot-Falck, and Cormac McCarthy;
Hand-tufted carpet by LOTTOZERO, Prato (a special thanks to Vera Bracklo)
Claudia Losi (Piacenza, 1971) investigates the relationships between the individual, community, ecosystem, and collective imagination. She develops multidisciplinary projects through walking, manual practices, and choral singing, using installations, performances, sculpture, photography, and drawing. She has exhibited in Italy and abroad. Her works have been shown in international institutions such as: Icon Gallery, Birmingham; Sharjah Biennial; Stenersen Museum, Oslo; Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia; MAXXI, Rome; MaMbo, Bologna; London College of Fashion’s Performance, Saint Mary’s Church, London.
Festival talk
Lo schermo VR
Palazzo Strozzi, Strozzina
November 14, 2025 – 11:00 AM
Free admission
Roundtable with artists Valentina Furian and Claudia Losi,
Elisabetta Modena (IULM, Milan), Anna Calise, Stefano Conca Bonizzoni, and Federica Villa (University of Pavia).
INFO
November 12–16, 2025
Daily 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM; Thursday 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Palazzo Strozzi, Strozzina
Piazza degli Strozzi, Florence
Free entry