ERROR 507: EGO EXCEEDED

Digital art piece created for the Art Innovation x Urban Pixels exhibition,
showcased on Times Square, New York

I was honored to be invited by a Milan-based gallery to take part in this exhibition. When I saw the setup, I knew I wanted to create something that felt personal, yet accessible — a piece that speaks to people while holding meaning for me.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Some of the objects in the scene are modeled after personal belongings. Others symbolize fears, desires, wishes, and little jokes.
Among them is the star of the show: the inflated balloon marked EGO. When the claw — which could’ve picked anything
(thank god not situationship membership) — chooses exactly that, it swells, bursts, and the game ends.

DEVELOPMENT & PROCESS

IDEA DEVELOPMENT

While developing the idea, I took into account the unique setup with four huge screens (over 8K horizontally), including one main vertically elongated display. I spent time researching previous projects by the same gallery on these screens and noticed that, surprisingly, no one had used a naked eye effect before—except for one commercial I happened to spot on Google Street View.

I came up with four different concepts for this setup, but the one with the claw machine stood out. It allowed me to bring together a playful scene full of meaningful objects, while the other ideas felt too basic or outdated.

I already had some experience creating naked eye content, but never for a setup made from four combined screens, so this was a real challenge for me. On top of that, there were no rehearsals or tests in advance, which made things even riskier. To create a truly convincing illusion, I needed precise physical dimensions, but all I had was the pixel layout.

MOOD BOARD/INSPO

STYLE

At this stage, I needed to shape the idea visually and give it my voice.

MODELING AND SCENE ASSEMBLY

TUTORIAL

THE RESULT

artist: Alina Zykina
gallery:
Art Innovation
exhibition: Urban Pixels
tools: Cinema4D + Redshift, Adobe
year: 2025