Step into a visionary world of geometries and optical illusions

In a world where ‘drawing a line’ is a synonym of limitation, boundaries, and separation, MOTOREFISICO is throwing the rules out of the window and invites us to step into their visionary world of geometries and optical illusions, where composition is the religion and lines are the key to never-ending creativity.

Composed by Rome-based architects and designers, Lorenzo Pagliara and Gianmaria Zonfrillo, MOTOREFISICO is an interdisciplinary art project that creates visually mesmerizing designs with materials such as resins, acrylics, and a powerful tool: tape. Optical illusions and minimal chromaticism are the basis of their works which combine tape art, interior design, and street art.

The work of MOTOREFISICO has crossed boundaries and has been displayed all over the world. It is their powerful compositions and unique vision that makes us want to throw away all of our preconceptions and live in their world of simple tools and infinite complexity. 

Who is Lorenzo Pagliara and Gianmaria Zonfrillo? How did your journey begin?

MOTOREFISICO:

“We met at the university, we were both studying architecture. In 2015 Gianmaria had a serious health issue, he risked his life and spent three months at the hospital, paralyzed. Luckily he got better, after this event, we decided to change our life in something we really wanted it to be.”

Why MOTOREFISICO? Why focus on interior design, art installations, and street art?

MOTOREFISICO:

“We considered our studies not rewarding in terms of future employment, therefore we decided to create our own job. MOTOREFISICO is an interdisciplinary art project aimed to create visually impacting projects in every field that applies.

We started with Tape Art, which is another important part of MOTOREFISICO, used to create non-permanent artworks that are in high demand for corporate events. Interior design is the most complex field in which we operate as it requires very high quality and technical knowledge. When it’s possible we mix our surface designs with three-dimensional wire installations. Our purpose is to make these different media interact to achieve a transformation of the space.”

Which are the main values, core concepts, or style inclinations that, above all, will always represent MOTOREFISICO?

MOTOREFISICO:

“When we started we noticed a growing production of online visual contents, socials were becoming more and more popular, consequently, every human being had the chance to look at hundreds of beautiful projects every day. We aimed to develop designs that were still able to attract the attention of observers in this world flooded by beauty.

That’s why we decided to invest in a monochromatic and geometric approach. Both our surface designs and art installations are based on composition and tension between elements. Our works are inspired by optical illusions and kinetic art, we put great attention in prospective perception in order to create drawings that can change deeply based on the point of view of the observer.”

You create beautifully geometric and very hypnotic compositions and you do so by creating a huge stencil with tape directly on site, can you walk us through your creative process and from inspiration to completion?

MOTOREFISICO:

“The tape is a fundamental part of our works, it helps us keep our lines straight and it makes it possible to create drawings of almost infinite complexity.

Our drawing technique is based on three main steps: first, we put the tape on, creating a huge stencil directly on the surface we will design, secondly we paint with spray or brush depending on the definition we need, at last, we remove the tape, leaving the negative image of the design permanently on the wall. We call this technique “Detraction Drawing”.”

Your work has been seen all around the world, from festivals, squares, private homes, and offices. What were your latest projects and which ones are you most attached to?

MOTOREFISICO:

“We love every single project we do, as every project has its own peculiarities, however, we have favorite working environments. The projects we enjoy the most are those in very big and empty spaces, we love having the possibility of completely transform a place. Just before the lockdown, we have been working on a 3000 square meters complex of hangars, which we decorated completely for a single day event.

When it comes to street art, unlike most street artists, we prefer floors rather than walls, with a special inclination for stairs. The reason for this choice is mainly because of dimension, floors or stairs are usually huge if compared to a vertical surface. We always keep in our hearths the 300 square meters stairs we painted in Wynwood, Miami last year.

Interior design, which is our core business, is also our favorite activity, we work for private homes, offices, schools, and restaurants. We recently finished the floor-to-ceiling design for a restaurant in Milan (Healthy Color Milan).”

How do you choose the type of client/project to work on?

MOTOREFISICO:

“Unfortunately, we don’t! We usually work for clients that completely understand our creative process. Especially in interior design, it’s crucial that the entire squad in the working place is highly professional as we work with resin to protect our drawings.”

Tell us about your first client, how did you get it and what was the project about?

MOTOREFISICO:

“When we decided to start with MOTOREFISICO project we had no clients at all, we had to find our way of getting known for our art. In some way, we were our first client. We started from under a bridge in Rome, cleaning it and drawing huge tape art pieces on the entire surface.

Whilst doing it we used to tape ourselves and then create timelapse out of the video. Doing this several times helped us creating some content to launch our project. As soon as we launched the first clients started calling us!”

What is next for MOTOREFISICO?

MOTOREFISICO:

“We always develop in every direction we can, since the start of this year we are working in the audio-visual environment. So far we’ve been working on visual art, while we’re planning to add a performative side of MOTOREFISICO, this new branch will involve dancers and movement sensors as well as artificial intelligence.

On the production side, we’re developing a product line of natural stone furniture, we’re currently working with a marble cutter to create our drawings out of white and black marble. At this time our dream is to paint an entire tall building’s façade.”