styrogami

Jules Vitali came up with the term syrtogami. Here he is in his home holding a styrogami piece.

"Styrogami is sculpture evolved from mentally extrapolating the trash and waste proliferation and combining the exponential growth of world population while factoring in rain forest depletion rates with due consideration given to the half-life of stored nuclear waste and the destruction potential inherent in modern day weaponry. I have come up with the visionary concept that we may indeed be presently and blindly basking in the glory of our final historical footnote, leaving no future generations to learn the hard lessons that the destruction of one's own planet will teach. Though I disdain the Styrofoam cup and the throwaway society it represents, Styrogami is, nonetheless, something metaphorically exquisite to admire as we walk this path to the gallows."

J. Jules Vitali

J. Jules Vitali has spent 23 years developing and perfecting Styrogami, which now exists in a number of forms. Each one of these delicate creations is sculpted from a single cup. The whole cup is utilized, nothing is thrown away. Every unique piece has been carved with the same two-bladed jack knife, a 32 year-old Sears brand Craftsman...no longer manufactured. Every piece that has been sculpted has come from a "found" cup, meaning it was acquired from some source other than purchase. Many still have the coffee or road dirt still on them. Styrogami is an art of expression, not one of perfection.

"I graduated from High School in 1964. It had been four and a half billion years since the beginning of Earth's geologic time. The population of the planet that June was roughly about three point two billion people, and it took that whole four and a half billion years for that to happen. Today is February 9th, 2008(12:50 GMT), almost forty four brief years since my graduation and the estimated world population today is six billion six hundred forty nine million four hundred fifty nine thousand eight hundred thirty five. Let your children do the math."

styrogamiexamples

Birds at the Fountain

Quixote's Subjunction

SnakeRoosterRat

3-Ring Circuits

Shark Tank(polystyrene & acrylic),

Backbone

Davio Six(polystyrene & acrylic)~ currently at the Northport Gallery, Northport, Maine ~

Zygurnic(silicon bronze)

A representative piece of Jules Vitali’s "Styrogami." The pieces are now being cast in bronze and sterling silver. A month-long solo exhibit of Vitali’s work has just wrapped up at Lemarche Gallery, Bowdoin College, Brunswick. Next scheduled exhibit wil be April, 2002 at the Freeport Historical Society.

styrogamiinspired

Your objectives:Choose a concept or theme for your work

You will be graded on the originality of your theme and how well your cup represents your theme.

TRY to use the whole cup Really think about your design before you begin cutting the cup.

Try your best to use the entire cup and all the extra pieces. Really think outside the box.

Only add color if the color complements your piece & theme.Good craftsmanship is extremely important.