Fassi CraneArt project
The Fassi CraneArt Project has been running since 2011 and seeks to discover new aesthetic and functional characteristics of Fassi hydraulic cranes through the creative medium of photography and using diverse viewpoints from the artistic world. Fassi has had the privilege of working with some of the world’s finest photography and arts schools, including the Istituto Italiano di Fotografia in Milan, the Escuela Superior de Imagen y Diseño in Barcelona and London South Bank University, to name only a few.
We believe that the versatility of our articulated cranes lends itself readily to artistic interpretation; they have a strong and attractive visual presence and the changing scale of the vast range of models on offer is fit to capture any imagination.
2018’s collaborator: ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne
The collaborating entity for the 2018 calendar was ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, also known as “Ecole ECAL”. The school is located in Lausanne, in the Vaud canton of Switzerland, on the beautiful shores of Lake Geneva and has an approximate student body of 600 students, coming from 40 different countries worldwide.
The school regularly ranks among the world’s top ten universities for art and design, due to its excellent facilities and diverse range of courses. Nine Photography Bachelors students, two teaching Assistants and the course leader arrived in Bergamo last spring to start work on the calendar.
The Work Process
The work for the 2018 edition of the calendar actually started in Winter 2016, when students were challenged to research Fassi cranes, not only in terms of product but in terms of the company’s motivations and entrepreneurial spirit. Fassi received 11 very interesting primary project proposals, which contained some exciting ideas. Only 9 of these ideas could be workshopped on the visit to the factory.
The ECAL team arrived in Bergamo and were immediately taken on a trip around the Fassi factories, offices and logistics centre, all based in the Seriana valley, so that they could become familiar with the factory spaces and decide which cranes they wanted to depict in their work. A carefully planned work schedule was then organised, based on location and so that the students could help each other to execute their shots and ideas.
The students then had two days to get everything they needed from the facilities. The days were long and demanding, but everyone’s work was completed on schedule and the students returned to Switzerland happy with their work.
The following months were spent in post-production, Fassi and ECAL students and staff working together choosing the final six images that would feature in the calendar and making sure they had just the right look and feel.
What made this year’s work unique was the specific types of technical and scene setting solutions proposed by the students – it is the first time the project has featured work done using a 3D scanner (Crane Scan) and real live fireworks (The Fassi Spectacular Show). Pushing these new ideas is exactly what the CraneArt project and Fassi as a company are all about – inspiring the crossing of new frontiers of innovation and finding new solutions to apply in reality.
The Fassi Spectacular Show by Emma Panchot
Crane Scan by Raphaèle Rey
Light Sculpture by Ivo Fovanna
Abstract Cranes by Julien Deceroi
Beyond Gravity by Vincent Levrat
Still XXL by Vincent Levrat
Thank you to the school, Fassi staff and all those who participated in this project to make it possible.
