O!

An exhibition dedicated to outstanding final projects by students of Visual Communication Design, as well as Industrial Design and Applied Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (University of Ljubljana, UL ALUO), created over the past ten years. The exhibition forms part of the celebrations marking two jubilees: the 80th anniversary of the founding of UL ALUO and the 40th anniversary of design studies at the University of Ljubljana.

In addition to the UL ALUO team, the O! project involved a robot as a precision bender and welder of exhibition structures, as well as silkworms, subtle and persistent builders. Together they formed an unlikely alliance, allowing biology, technology and design to breathe as one. With the assistance of light and heat, the silkworms weave threads into new structures, while the robot regulates the cocooning conditions and humans develop the vision. Not simply a production – it is a living organism of creation where the natural and the artificial work together in perfect harmony, which is nonetheless unpredictable in terms of timeframe and result. So evocative, uncharacteristic of today's increasingly derailed, predictable time. Here, biodesign is not the future, it is an exciting present.

UL ALUO team: Assoc. Prof. Primož Jeza, Assist. Prof. Roman Ražman, Assist. Prof. Boštjan Drinovec, MA, Assist. Prof. Matej Stupica