Felipe Sztutman

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About

Born in São Paulo, 1986. My grandparents came from Poland and Romania in 1933 — Jews fleeing Nazism. My father taught me that emancipation comes through making: test the idea in matter before claiming it's good.

I studied Mechatronics at COTUCA (Unicamp, 2002–04) and Design at FAU-USP (2007–14). My thesis, LUZCIDADE, traced the lineage from Moholy-Nagy to Dan Flavin and from Flavin to my work with light in public space. Advised by Carlos Zibel Costa, committee included Giselle Beiguelman. I'm not an artist who learned technology — I'm a technician who became an artist. The order matters.

In 2008 I joined BijaRi, where I worked as a VJ and art director for nine years. Live-cinema at Itaú Cultural (2008), video-scenery for Ivete Sangalo at Madison Square Garden (2010), three editions of Villa Mix Goiânia with Guinness Record for the world's largest LED stage (2013–15). BijaRi taught me to operate at scale.

In 2017, at The Force / GTM Cenografia, I installed the Google Buttonwall in the lobby of Google Brasil with Wesley Lee (~7,000 interactive RGB buttons), the scenography of YouTube Space Rio at Pier Mauá (3,000 m², described by G1 as "the most high-tech in the world"), and the technical direction of the Dimensão exhibition by Nonotak Studio at Japan House São Paulo.

In 2019 I co-founded AYA Studio with Antonio Curti. Since then, I've conceived and directed immersive exhibitions at Farol Santander, CCBB, SESI/FIESP, Japan House, and Casa Fiat. I design the spaces, conceive them technically and artistically, and coordinate multidisciplinary teams of motion designers, programmers, architects, and technicians. Antonio signs the curatorship. AYA is the system — I'm one of the engines.

My work stands on two lineages: one artistic — from Moholy-Nagy to Dan Flavin, from the light-space modulator to the fluorescent lamp as medium — and another technical, which comes from mechatronics and digital fabrication. The works are born from the intersection of these forces. Revealing the invisible is the gesture that persists: from the buried Córrego das Almas in 2012 to the mycorrhizal networks of Floresta Utópica in 2025.

Years after the thesis, this lineage reappeared explicitly in the book 100 Anos de Arte Moderna: a cena contemporânea, by Carlos Zibel Costa — the same advisor who accompanied LUZCIDADE at FAU-USP. The profile dedicated to my work articulates Cachoeira, sem título, para Mantiqueira, and OCEANVS as parts of a single trajectory: from light in public space to the construction of immersive environments.

Education

COTUCA / Unicamp — Mechatronics (2002–04)
FAU-USP — Design (2007–14). Thesis LUZCIDADE, advisor Carlos Zibel Costa, committee Giselle Beiguelman
Dan Flavin: Lights — Mumok, Vienna (2013). Visit that consolidated the field

Recurring Collaborators

Antonio Curti — curatorship in all AYA exhibitions since 2019
Wesley Lee — hardware and electronics (Mementos, Interlúdio, METADATA, Google Buttonwall, Dimensão/Nonotak)
Matheus Leston — audiovisual programming (Mementos, OCEANVS, O Que Nos Une)
João Alencar (Jãozão) — motion design (OCEANVS, SP3024, AMANO). Previously together at BijaRi
Flávio Reis (Audiovisualismo) — motion design (OCEANVS)
Juvi — sound design (OCEANVS, Andrômeda)
Rodrigo Bellotto — Objeto em Forma de: Espaço (2009), New York Visualists

Publications

100 Anos de Arte Moderna: a cena contemporânea — Carlos Zibel Costa. Dedicated profile on pp. 64–67, with references to Cachoeira, sem título, para Mantiqueira, and OCEANVS.

Records