Info
Foto sezione
Logo Bocconi

Press Room

Press release | 25/10/2019
Bocconi University, Knowledge That Matters as a Work of Art

Bocconi University, Knowledge That Matters as a Work of Art

THE INSTALLATION BY INTERNATIONAL ARTIST AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER LORENZO PETRANTONI ON THE CAMPUS IN MILAN. IT CONDENSES ALL THE BEST RESEARCH RESULTS AND ACADEMIC WRITING PRODUCED BY THE UNIVERSITY, USING A DECOUPAGE TECHNIQUE


'Knowledge that matters.' Bocconi's motto embodies the University's main goal: to produce and disseminate knowledge that is not an end in itself, but has an impact on society. This goal has now been transformed into an imposing physical reality, nine and a half meters long and two meters high. Knowledge That Matters has been made into a huge work of art by Lorenzo Petrantoni, the artist and graphic designer whose stylistic signature is the decoupage technique. The installation, inaugurated on the campus in Milan, is now an integral part of the contemporary works of art in the Bocconi Art Gallery.

For his composition, Petrantoni collaborated with a team of Bocconi professors, archivists and communicators for one month, in a project conceived and coordinated by Grey Italia. They selected the elements to create a visual version of the University’s vast range of knowledge (which runs from economics and the social sciences to data science). 20,000 9x13cm images were produced, which he then used to cover the installation. The digital images used to create the work come from the best knowledge produced by Bocconi: including the academic papers of the 100 most cited Bocconi professors; books and research work; historical documents on the foundation of the University; and 100 student theses.
 
Photos  (click to download):
 
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4

 
"Lorenzo Petrantoni's work is a like a huge snapshot, freezing the words and images that represent our academic and educational commitment: to focus on looking outwards, to look at the world and never close up on ourselves,” explains the Rector of Bocconi, Gianmario Verona. "This is why we have chosen to have our story told by an artist with a strong international background, who knows how to give knowledge's prime elements – words and numbers – such an important weight."

"This is the first time I've used this type of material for a project of this magnitude," adds Lorenzo Petrantoni. "I wanted to represent and condense the harmony of the numbers and graphics that tell stories as well as describe the economy, in their perfect aesthetic form. I usually prefer to use 19th-century publications for my works, but in this case, I worked with research output that spans an entire century."

Lorenzo Petrantoni studied graphics in Milan, then worked France and Italy as an art director,  before leaving the world of advertising and dedicating himself to his career as an illustrator. His illustrations are created from his passion for graphics and the appeal that the 1800s has for him, made with images taken from old manuals and dictionaries of the time. With his art, he has created campaigns for prestigious brands, collaborated with international publications – including the NYT, Guardian, Time, WSJ and New Yorker - and exhibited in numerous art shows around the world.
 


 
Tomaso Eridani
Press Office
Universita' Bocconi
Phone +39-02.5836.2324
Mobile +39-335.635.2819
E-mail tomaso.eridani@unibocconi.it
https://www.press.unibocconi.eu
Barbara Orlando
Head of Press Office
Universita' Bocconi
Phone +39-02.5836.2330
Mobile +39-335.123.1716
E-mail barbara.orlando@unibocconi.it
https://www.press.unibocconi.eu
The research news source
The online newspaper

Events

Highlights

all