BALLOON "ART" DOES NOT EXIST!

What we do is commonly called Balloon Art. Our clients, family and friends often refer to us as artists.

Art is a concept still much debated. What is art and what isn't art? When can we say that we are dealing with a piece of work of art and when with crafts?

It is obvious that an artist uses the material that makes it the best way to express his/her own emotions and show them to the viewer.

In this sense, the feelings you have, for instance, by listening to "Imagine" by John Lennon, is probably the same as the one he himself had when he was writing and singing the song.

To tell the truth, however, we must point out that emotions are not the only concepts that explain art.

But we should stay in our field of interest and try to place the concept of art into the world of balloons. We will certainly feel excited about balloons. But what kind of emotions arise in ourselves? An emotion that can be called professional based on technical aspects, or a feeling based on what the composition wanted to communicate?

Ironically, most of the time, the best works of art made of balloons were created by artists who did not know anything about the techniques of our discipline.

Other considerations should be made in the presence of other models of art in which the balloons are represented, such as photography, to see if the art is in the composition of balloons or in the photo that portrays them.

My opinion is that balloon art installations are very rare things.

Personally, I would tend to identify myself more as a craftsman.

A craftsman is the one who uses it, and adds deep knowledge, certain materials, equipment and techniques suitable for producing products that are useful for one or more reasons.

In our case we produce decorative elements.

As you can guess, in this view, the artistic element - emotion, message or concept - to get the viewer does not exist and, therefore, there is nothing like a work of art.

The emotions that balloons make in our clients are of all kinds, balloons represent their very own feelings as they use them for personal matters, and they appreciate the work of the craftsman.

I must add that my attempt is not at all to degrade our work!

Being a craftsman places us in a position to make a good figure without making any abstruse composition at times dictated by the presumption to be artists.

BALLOON LAB.

At the base of each project there is always a philosophical choice that explains, or at least try to do so, the deep reasons the idea.

The philosophy of Balloon Lab is to interpret the balloons not only as a mere object of our work as well as the subject of other artistic expressions.

Let me explain.

When we create a composition, a bouquet for example, we are using the balloons as the principal of our daily work. This is the primary purpose for which the balloons are produced. But, if we take a photo of the same realization we will get another work, the picture for the note, in which the balloons will be the subject.

The same concept can be transported in all other artistic fields. The balloons can be described, drawn, sculpted, photographed, as mentioned above, and much more.

Not only.

Lab stands for "laboratory" or a place where you seek alternative solutions, new techniques, new tools. Even in these cases the balloons remain the center of attention that could be called subjective.

My question is the following.

When you create a new technique to use the balloons, what is the object and which the subject?

If we think of the balloons only in material terms, we haven't created a technique but a composition. If, on the contrary, for us the object of the speech is the new technique, then we could really fit in many types and sizes of balloons with a development potentially greater.

Eventually we'll get not one but many compositions.

Balloon Lab does not arise real limits and for this entity is evolving. This blog is an example. A diary almost private intended for an audience of professionals.

WHY A BLOG?

Where am I from? Who am I? What do I do? Where am I going?

I have been asking these questions several times!

These questions have no real importance on their own, but what really matters is the answers given to the questions that captivate my personal history and the choices I have made so far in my life.

These questions also show my predisposition towards a cosmic fate and pragmatic awareness.

Am I predestined or I am the result of my decisions?

If someone else has chosen for me, well then I would say that if he/she really wanted to give me a talent ... I would have preferred to have the feet of Maradona or the voice of Pavarotti ... Instead I have two hands that can "Twist" balloons.

I have never in my life thought that I would do this kind of work. As a child, I said that I wanted to be someone like my dad! And concerning hairstyles, I have indeed succeeded.

But, there will even be a reason for me being a craftsman of balloons. This blog is an attempt to give me some kind of the answers to the questions that I was always looking for.

Affectionately, Alberto