When the boundaries between humans, animals, and objects dissolve, a new design language emerges: a dream of metamorphosis and symbiosis.
Elio Romanazzi’s AnimaBestia explores the fluidity of identity between humans, non-humans, and objects, questioning their interconnectedness within the design process. The project moves along the fine line that both separates and unites human existence, other species, and the objects we create and inhabit.
The object as an extension of the human self
At the core of AnimaBestia lies the desire to investigate how objects become extensions of human beings, physical manifestations of thought and identity that take shape in the space around us. Objects are no longer passive elements but active participants in our self-definition, forming a porous boundary between the subject and the material world.
At the same time, the project challenges the notion of species boundaries, highlighting the transitory nature of human existence in relation to non-human life forms. Here, the interspecies encounter takes on the form of a dream, a moment of metamorphosis and transformation.
A hybrid object: between sculpture and furniture
At the heart of the project is a stool-creature, a zoomorphic object covered with a “skin” marked by images and beings that emerge from the dreamlike encounter between human and non-human. The skin, as both a boundary and a storyteller, is designed to be wearable, closing the circle and bringing the object back to the human body.
Constructed with a metal frame covered in plastic material, the stool measures 54x30x44 cm. The skin is a printed and quilted fabric, visually narrating the “dream of an interspecies encounter.”
The exhibition: an immersive experience
For the exhibition, AnimaBestia will be displayed on a platform approximately 80x100x20 cm, accompanied by a suspended tapestry that visually represents the dream from which the work emerged. The installation aims to create an environment where visitors can immerse themselves in the narrative, allowing them to step into a space where the boundaries between human, animal, and object dissolve.
Beyond design: a new material poetics
AnimaBestia contributes to a broader discussion on the relationship between humans and materiality, proposing an aesthetic in which objects are no longer mere tools but living entities carrying meaning and storytelling. Elio Romanazzi’s work invites us to rethink design as a symbiotic process where traditional categories break down, making way for new forms of relationships and hybridization.