The relationship between fashion and art has always been inseparable, and BVLGARI has once again teamed up with the award-winning media artist and artistic director Refik Anadol to launch the second chapter of Serpenti Metamorphosis in London, following the huge success of last year’s exhibition and digital experience in Piazza del Duomo in Milan.
For the first time, BVLGARI will showcase Refik Anadol’s interpretation of the brand’s most famous classic symbol, Serpenti, at the world-renowned Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, London, providing visitors with an immersive and wonderful experience. This will be a significant milestone, marking the 75th anniversary celebration of Serpenti in 2023.
Refik Anadol was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and is a media artist, art director, and a pioneer in data aesthetics and artificial intelligence. His work interprets the encounter between humans and machines creatively. Anadol uses the flowing data around us as the main material, supplemented by computerized neural networks of thought, using thought as a brush to showcase our digitized memory with radical visual effects, exploring the infinite possibilities of architecture, design styles, and dynamics. Anadol’s artificial intelligence data sculptures and paintings, live audiovisual performances, and immersive installations are presented in various forms, inspiring us to rethink our contact with the physical world, dimensions of time and space, and the creative potential of machines.
When it comes to BVLGARI’s most iconic symbol, it must be the Serpenti. It first appeared in the form of a fashionable bracelet watch in 1948, made using the famous tubogas technique, and was immediately popular. The alluring Serpenti became the favorite jewelry of the most famous female stars of the 1950s and 60s, such as Elizabeth Taylor, quickly becoming one of BVLGARI’s most coveted and well-known symbols. Over the years, Serpenti has continuously transformed and blossomed into new forms, a transformation that continues to this day.
BVLGARI and Refik Anadol will take visitors on an immersive journey. The unique artificial intelligence technology developed by this artist will lead visitors through a complex and ever-changing serpent, showcasing the continuous rebirth and evolution of the snake, while playing sound effects and diffusing scents like BVLGARI perfume, providing visitors with a new and immersive experience. Machine learning algorithms trained from over 200 million images of nature produce a fascinating visual effect, presenting another natural reality that mimics natural textures, evoking thoughts of snake evolution and offering a fresh interpretation of transformation.
In addition to Refik Anadol’s art installation, the exhibition also features BVLGARI Serpenti archival images and sketches that respond to the artwork, allowing visitors to appreciate the continuous evolution of the Serpenti symbol and its deep connection to the female world. The exhibition will be held at Gallery 3 of the Saatchi Gallery in London from November 25 to December 23, free admission, and reservations can be made on Bulgari.com.
