Stefano Contiero’s Infinito (2022) presents a journey from darkness to transcendent light, exploring themes of death, rebirth, and the cyclical nature of existence. This audiovisual work embodies the artist’s philosophical investigation into the infinite, suggesting that life’s meaning emerges not from its purpose but from its endless repetition and transformation.
The piece unfolds through a carefully orchestrated progression: beginning in complete blackness, organic tendrils emerge with four-point symmetry, evolving into dense, vibrant tapestries of color before being consumed by expanding white light. The algorithmically generated sound progresses from pulsating frequencies that intensify with the visual development, culminating in white noise as the artwork turns white. This synchronized audio-visual progression creates what the artist describes as an exploration of the eternal cycle: birth from void, flourishing into complexity, then dissolution back into pure potential.
These kaleidoscopic forms draw from multiple scales simultaneously, creating ambiguity between the microscopic and macroscopic. Cellular structures morph into galactic formations; what begins as intimate biological imagery expands into cosmic contemplation. The four-point symmetry suggests both mandala traditions and scientific visualization, positioning the work within broader conversations about spirituality, science, and artistic practice. These complex compositions connect to the intricate cosmological patterns of ancient Mesoamerican art, where layered symmetries encoded spiritual understanding, and the psychedelic symmetries of 1960s consciousness exploration, while anticipating contemporary digital pattern-making that transforms algorithmic repetition into transcendent visual experience. Following the wonder explorations of Meraviglia (2022) and the harmony-seeking philosophy of Armonia (2022), this work extends Contiero’s investigation into finding resolution through transcendence rather than integration.
Developed for Bright Moments’ Mexico City exhibition in November 2022, Infinito marked Contiero’s first fully integrated audiovisual piece, presented within a custom infinite mirror room that amplified the work’s themes of endless repetition. Two high-resolution jacquard textiles were produced and displayed at the entrance of the infinity room, creating a tactile threshold between the physical and digital infinite. The physical mirrors created literal infinity. The algorithm generated conceptual infinity. Together they established a dialogue between architectural space and digital time. The exhibition context allowed Contiero to control the complete viewing experience, positioning the reveal itself as the artwork while the resulting generative outputs serve as documentation of eternal processes.
In exploring infinity as both liberation and meaninglessness, Contiero suggests that confronting the vastness of existence can paradoxically offer complete freedom from conventional constraints. Meaning emerges not from duration but from depth: each moment contains infinite possibility when experienced with complete attention.