LOUIS CAMDEN PRATT - NICO PIETRONI
A Very Dutch Ghost is an experiential sculptural work that combines art and science to extend the canon of an amorphosis in art. The observer forms part of the work, as the mediator between the sculpture and its reflection. This work exploits a law of physics that has never before been applied in art. The effect is unlike anything we have seen before: evoking qualities of the holographic, ghost-like and the ethereal. Arguably the most famous historical example of anamorphic art is the painting by Hans Holbein the younger called The Ambassador’s painted 1553. A Very Dutch Ghost, pays homage to this seminal workwhile also referencing Vincent van Gogh’s painting of askeleton smoking a cigarette. The installation comprises of a stainless-steel concave mirror and a bronze sculpture-ananamorphic distorted skull. The curvature and optic distortion of the mirror has been accounted for in the creation of the sculpture, so that the image in the reflection appears undistorted. At the same time, the reflected image seems to come towards us, and to move with us, appearing, in front, rather than inside the mirrored surfaced, as we would expect. This work builds upon Louis Pratt’s more than twenty-year exploration of anamorphic art, and his propensity to push the boundaries to create compelling and enigmatic sculptural works. The work has been developed through PhD research and collaboration with leading computer scientist and geometry processing specialist, Dr Nico Pietroni. The pair worked together to develop bespoke ray-tracing software that allows them to correct the distortion of objects caused by curved mirrored surfaces or transparent media. A Very Dutch Ghost explores art history and the illusory nature of perception, with an innovative approach to sculpture practice, which promises more exciting developments to come.
NICO PIETRONI
Computer Graphics, Geometry Processing and Art
My primary research area is Computer Graphics and Geometry Processing, with a focus on developing concepts and practical algorithms for creating and manipulating digital shape representations. My work aims to advance industrial production pipelines by leveraging robust theoretical foundations in geometry processing. My research spans mesh parametrization, reconstruction, surface abstraction, and global optimization, with applications in the entertainment industry, digital fabrication, and architectural geometry. I have a strong track record of excellence, with over 50 international journal papers—more than 80% published in top-tier Q1 journals—and 20 papers presented at SIGGRAPH / ACM Transactions on Graphicds, underscoring my significant contributions to the field. My expertise has earned me three appointments to the International Program Committee of SIGGRAPH. My work has been recognized with three Symposium on Geometry Processing Awards (2015, 2017, and 2021), celebrating my contributions to open-source tools such as MeshLab, LibIGL, and HexaLab, which integrate algorithms I developed. Beyond academia, my geometry algorithms have had a tangible impact in diverse domains. In architecture, they shaped an installation featured at the 2021 Venice Biennale. In 2023, I developed a groundbreaking algorithm that powered an innovative artwork exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, earning recognition as a f inalist for the prestigious Wynne Prize.
Academic Positions
2023– present Associate Professor University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2020– 2023 Tenured Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor in EU) University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2017– 2020 Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor in EU) University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2013– 2017 Researcher (Permanent) Visual Computing Laboratory, ISTI- National Research Council (CNR), Italy
2010– 2012 Researcher (Temporary) Visual Computing Laboratory, ISTI- National Research Council (CNR), Italy
2009– 2010 Post Doc at Media Research Laboratory, New York University New York City, NY,USA
2006– 2007 Visiting PhD Student at Computer Graphics Lab, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
2004– 2009 PhD Student , University of Genova, Italy
Education
2009 PhD, Computer Science, University of Genova title: A robust approach to interactive virtual cutting: geometry and color supervisors: Enrico Puppo and Fabio Ganovelli
2004 Master Degree in Computer Scence, Dipartimento di informatica , University of Pisa Score: 110 / 110 Title:Algorithms and data structure for modelling cuts on deformable objects supervisor: Fabio Ganovelli, Paolo Cignoni
Italian Habilitation
2022 Habilitation as Full professor, Information Elaboration System (09/H1), Italian law n. 240/2010, art. 16, 02/02/2022 to 02/02/2033
2022 Habilitation as Full professor, Computer Science (01/B1), Italian law n. 240/2010, art. 16, 31/01/2022 to 31/01/2033
2017 Habilitation as Associate professor, Information Elaboration System (09/H1), Italian law n. 240/2010, art. 16
2017 Habilitation as Associate professor, Computer Science (01/B1), Italian law n. 240/2010, art. 16 1/18
Awards
[AW5] 2021 SYMPOSIUM ON GEOMETRY PROCESSING DATASET AWARD
for HEXALAB, http://awards.geometryprocessing.org
Matteo Bracci, Marco Tarini, Marco Livesu, Nico Pietroni, Paolo Cignoni HexaLab is a WebGL application for real time visualization, exploration and assessment of hexahedral meshes. This tool use the technology of papers: [J30]
[AW4] 2019 FIRST PRIZE
for FLEXMAP PAVILLON at the Competition and Exhibition of innovative lightweight structures organized by the IASS Working Group 21 within the FORM and FORCE, joint international conference of IASS Symposium 2019 and Structural Membranes, see:https://www.jjo33.com/iass-barcelona-2019 Francesco Laccone, Luigi Malomo, Jesus Perez, Nico Pietroni, Federico Ponchio, Bernd Bickel,Paolo Cignoni using the technology of papers: [J45][J40][J33][J29]
[AW3] 2017 SYMPOSIUM ON GEOMETRY PROCESSING AWARD
for MESHLAB , see: http://awards.geometryprocessing.org
MeshLab (http://www.meshlab.net/) is an open source, portable, and extensible system for the processing and editing of unstructured 3D triangular meshes. It also supports processing of raw data produced with 3D digitization tools/devices, providing a set of tools for editing, cleaning, healing, inspecting, rendering, texturing and converting this kind of models. Paolo Cignoni, Guido Ranzuglia, Marco Callieri, Massimiliano Corsini, Matteo Dellepiane, Marco Di Benedetto, Fabio Ganovelli, Giorgio Marcias, Gianpaolo Palma, Nico Pietroni, Federico Ponchio, Luigi Malomo, Marco Tarini Roberto Scopigno using the technology of papers: [J5][J7]
[AW2] 2015 SYMPOSIUM ON GEOMETRY PROCESSING AWARD
for LIBIGL, A simple C++ geometry processing library. Symposium on Geometry Processing Software Award 2015, see: http://awards.geometryprocessing.org Libigl is a C++ geometry processing library. It has a wide functionality including construction of sparse discrete differential geometry operators and finite-elements matrices such as the cotangent Laplacian and diagonalized mass matrix, simple facet and edge-based topology data structures, mesh-viewing utilities for OpenGL and GLSL, and many core functions for matrix manipulation. Alec Jacobson, Daniele Panozzo, Christian Schüller, Olga Diamanti, Qingnan Zhou, Nico Pietroni, Stefan Bruggerr , Kenshi Takayama, Wenzel Jakob, Nikolas De Giorgis, Luigi Rocca, Leonardo Sacht, Olga Sorkine-Hornung
[AW1] 2011 ISTI- YOUNG RESEARCHER AWARD
The ISTI Young Researcher Award (YRA) "Matteo Dellepiane" is an annual award that honors its staff of less than 35 years old for a distinct contribute to the Institute activity with their scientific production. National Research Council Of Italy
Publications
Google Scholar: H-index: 33 Citations: 3912, https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=BXxHVPkAAAAJ&hl=en
Journal publications
The three Top-Tier International Journals in the Computer Graphics fields are:
1st: ACM Transaction on Graphics
2nd: IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics
3rd: Computer
Graphics Forum font : https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=top_venues&hl=en&vq=eng_computergraphics Each publication reports also the SJR ( SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)) quartile. Q1: The top 25% of journals in a category (highest impact and quality).
LOUIS CAMDEN PRATT
Education
2024 PHD Engineering and IT, UTS
2004 Master of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, UNSW
2000 BA of Visual Arts with 1st Class Honours, ANU School of Art
Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, Photography
1996 BA of Graphic Design Sydney Graphics College
Design & Illustration
Awards & Grants
2023 Finalist Wynne prize Art gallery of NSW
2021 Winner “People’s choice award” Western Sydney sculpture NSW
Winner “Environmental Award” Scenic World NSW
Winner “People’s choice award” Scenic World NSW
Winner “People’s choice award” Montalto VIC
2020 Winner “People’s choice award” Eden Sculpture award
Winner Curators award at Tom Bass figurative sculpture award
2019 Winner “People’s choice award” Swell Sculpture award
Winner sculpture scenic world: Staff award and Exhibiting award
Australian Post-graduate Award
2018 Highly commended at Northbridge art prize
2017 Winner NAVA art Environmental award Scenic World
URM Sustainability prize harbour side Sculpture
2016 Winner Toorak sculpture award
Winner Wollongong Sculpture award
Winner Tom Bass Figurative Sculpture award
Winner of Environmental award sculpture on the edge
2015 Winner Sustainability award Harbourside Sculpture
Alumni award Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi
2014 Winner of Cliften’s art Award Sydney Winner Staff Award Scenic World
2013 Winner of the Mt Buller Sculpture award
2011 Winner Blacktown Sculpture prize 3D scanning sponsored by Qubic
2009 3D body scanning sponsored by the Institute of Sport Canberra
2006 Winner of the Woollahra Small Sculpture prize
2005 Highly Commended Cromwell’s Art Prize
Highly Commended Willoughby 3D open Art Prize
New Work grant Australian Arts Council (emerging artist)
Winner of the Linden Postcard Show
2004 Winner of the COFA UNSW Emerging artist award
2003 3D laser scanning sponsored by New Dawn 3D
2002 Australian Post-Graduate Research scholarship
2000 ARTS ACT equipment grant
Selected Texts
2023 Reflections on light, Leonardo Journal (published paper)
Bending the light: Next generation anamorphic sculptures (published paper)
2016 Out of Hand : Materialising the Digital, MAAS Media
2015 Digital Handmade: Craftsmanship in the New Industrial Revolution, Thames & Hudson
McClelland Sculpture survey catalogue
Collections and Commissions
Art Bank St John’s College
Arboretum Elliott Eyes collection
Art gallery of Ballarat Soldiers Point Marina NSW
Bega Valley Regional Gallery Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
Mt Buller Ski resort VIC South Australian University
Woollarha Council chambers NSW Vivid Sydney 2013,14,16
A VERY DUTCH GHOST
San Gimignano
From 16/03/2025 to 13/04/2025
Tutti i giorni 11:30 - 17:00
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