Cristian Carlone

@cristiancarlone

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Project Summary

This project draws on two passages from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, both describing humans transformed into trees — not as illustration, but as inspiration for a scene in its own right. The discovery of a beautiful piece of bark during a mountain hike with my wife provided the ideal starting point. The kit I chose is a vintage Zaku II in 1/144 scale.

The first of the two passages is from Book I, where the nymph Daphne, fleeing Apollo, begs her father Peneus to change her form:

“….. A filmy rind about her body grows; Her hair to leaves, her arms extend to boughs: The nymph is all into a lawrel gone;…...”

The second passage comes from Book VIII, where the elderly Baucis and Philemon are transformed together at the moment of death — bark sealing their final words to one another:

“Old Baucis is by old Philemon seen Sprouting with sudden leaves of spritely green: ……., And saw his lengthen’d arms a sprouting wood: New roots their fasten’d feet begin to bind, Their bodies stiffen in a rising rind: Then, ere the bark above their shoulders grew,…..”

This diorama imagines a Zaku II, mid-patrol, seized by a sudden and rapid metamorphosis into bark. The cause is deliberately left untold — the scene is concerned only with the fact that it is happening, not why. The mecha shows only minor wear and tear: this is not an abandoned machine reclaimed slowly by time, but an active one undergoing an unexpected transformation.

Its legs have already been absorbed into the tree — only two broken fragments of a leg’s connecting cable remain, snapped off and emerging from the bark. The skirt armor has started its transformation, shards of bark protruding between the skirt gaps. The shield at its side is more advanced in the transformation, the wood having taken over it’s lower part. Vines emerge from the bark and slither along and over the Zaku’s arms and upper body, pinning it down the way roots seal over anything in their path. The shoulders are also covered, like vegetation hands holding it down. The mecha cannot pull free; it is being covered, so the transformation can continue. Still, in a futile attempt, one arm tries to lift what’s left of the body; the other reaches out, its hand open, fingers spread, in a call for help that will go unanswered.

Using natural bark, moss, and lichen, this piece is inspired by Ovid but also pays a small homage to a recurring theme in Tomino’s Gundam saga: nature reclaiming what humanity has taken from it.

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After metamorphosis, ep. 10 - Some bragging!

Sci-Fi

43 days ago

Cristian Carlone

@cristiancarlone | Sci-Fi

After metamorphosis, ep. 10 - Some bragging!

Ciao! This post shows some photos of the exhibition of my gunpla collection that occurred between September 2023 and April 2024 at MUFANT, the Science Fiction and Fantasy museum in my city (www.mufant.it). I curated the whole exhibition and all the pieces are part of my collection. Not only Gunpla, but records, posters, settei, and some gadgets celebrating Gundam and gunple by each decade showing the evolution of design and technology but als the impact the Gundam had and still has on Japanese popular culture. The local newspaper had an article and the local tv station had it on its evening news.
Now you also know where my profile image comes from,….. a video tour of the exhibition can be seen on my YouTube channel (see my bio).

LM
Lorenzo Malatesta43 days ago
Ma che bella iniziativa. Il modellismo in Italia dovrebbe fare questo.. non solo le mostre concorso
- CC
  Cristian Carlone43 days ago
  Replying to Lorenzo Malatesta
  @lorenzomalatesta, condivido pienamente! Il fatto di essere un membro del comitato scientifico del museo aiuta. In programma ci saranno altre iniziative a tema modellismo. Se capiti a Torino in futuro una visita al MUFANT (www.mufant.it), vale la pena. Ciao!
GD
Garage de plamodel43 days ago
Wow, just wow! These are incredible! Everything here is truly valuable. I'm so envious! Thank you so much for cherishing Japanese culture!
- CC
  Cristian Carlone43 days ago
  Replying to Garage de plamodel
  @garagedeplamodel, thank you so much! I have been a fan of Japan and it’s culture since i was 13 years old when I did. “Thesis” in Japan for my middle school state exam. Exposure to writers, food, anime, manga and Japanese people along the years reinforced my passion for Japan. I visited Japan in 2014. Hope to be back.
CK
Christopher Koch43 days ago
Very awesome oppurtunity
- CC
  Cristian Carlone43 days ago
  Replying to Christopher Koch
  @christopherkoch, thank you. It was a unique opportunity indeed. It also helped the fact I’m one of members of the Museum scientific committee…..
- CC
  Cristian Carlone43 days ago
  Replying to Christopher Koch
  @christopherkoch, thank you! It was great to plan, set up, run and present this exhibition. It helps the fact I’m a member of the Museum’s scientific committee….. i also curated an exhibition on Transformers and collaborated to two more.
A
antampatz43 days ago
Nice exhibition!
- CC
  Cristian Carlone43 days ago
  Replying to antampatz
  @antampatz, thanks! Yes, it received a lot of visitors.
GV
Gigga Vega Michael43 days ago
Why aren't you updating your youtube channel? I watched your picture frame video, great idea, I left a comment. If you are planning on updating the channel with more videos, I'll subscribe. I make content on gaming, reviews & now more & more Gunpla stuff.
- CC
  Cristian Carlone43 days ago
  Replying to Gigga Vega Michael
  @giggavegamichael, thank you! I have not dedicated time to my YouTube channel as much as I should be. My daytime job has gotten more demanding and engaging, so I currently opt for using the little time I have for hobbies to building and less on editing and posting videos. Your comment helps me to reinvigorate my resolve to do more with my channel!

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