Pedro MORALES

The SCUTOID Series

b. 1958, Maracaibo VE.

Lives and works between Houston USA and Versailles France.

Pedro Morales is a pioneer of digital art in Venezuela. He repre-

sented his country at the 50th Venice Biennale with an iconic work,
“CITYROOMS.NET”, censored by his government. His investigations
in the visual arts maintain an intimate approach, using everyday
domestic events as a background for his digital work. He has ex-
plored his vision of the picture within the picture with fractal geom-
etry and stereography. 3D vision has been extensively researched
by Morales for more than 25 years. The two-dimensional codes
popular on mobile phones have been dismembered by Morales,
experimenting with new materials and decipherable techniques
using a cell phone. The 3D art pieces come from printers assem-
bled by the artist. Part of the interactivity with his work is mobile
connectivity, each code carries a personal message or URL He is
currently working on the Scutoid Series, a newly discovered geo-
metric shape found in human cells.

http://www.pedromorales.com/pdf/cv.pdf
@pedroamoralesm pedromorales.ve

info@pedromorales.com

Scutoid. Cellular Automata. 3d-print on corn base plastic. 14” x 6.5” x 4”. 2019.
The SCUTOID Series
Pedro Morales
Captive by Scutoids
Pedro Morales

To me, they are just a beautiful geometric shape.

At the end of July 2018, researchers from the University of Seville an-
nounced the discovery of a new geometric form in nature: The Scutoid.
It is the shape of the epithelial cells that protect the body, say the Span-
ish researchers. It was thought of before as a prism.
To me it only seemed a beautiful geometric shape that, unknown, has
lived among us, oblivious to its presence. I have decided to explore it
from the moment of its discovery. Hence, this first vision of the won-
derful geometry of the scutoid, the exploration of its impossible planes,
its unforeseen curved sides, and the turning flow of its form, of the
movement that they bring to the space with their interwoven presence,
showing us what we are made of. Nothing more intimate.
I have been captivated by the scutoids and the spatial challenge they
present. There is a fascination in working with what we did not know
just a month ago and that has been there forever, waiting to be found
someday. I register this moment when the future has turned into now
in the blink of an eye. The Scutoid Series is geometric freedom, un-
explored volume. Since time began to be recorded there have been
lines, circles, squares, polygons. The Scutoid lived meanwhile holding
our skin, anonymous. Prostrated before the beauty of this mysterious
natural geometric shape recently unveiled, I cannot stop imagining
them in shapes and sizes, alone, accompanied, weaving each other in
color and material. This is a proposal to exhibit a work in progress. The
first Scutoids coming out of my studio and with the sole recourse of my
rudimentary printers. This is the Scutoid Series.
August 21, 2018

The Scutoid Series

Scutoid, 3d-print on corn base plastic, 2018-2019
(14 x 3 x 2) in
(19 x 3 x 5) in
(21 x 17 x 4) in
(18 x 9 x 5) in
(17 x 4.7 x 4.7) in
(19 x 4 x 3) in
(16 x 16 x 7) in
(19 x 4 x 3) in
(87 x 22 x 22) in
(16 x 16 x 5) in each
(23 x 4 x 4) in
(14 x 14 x 3) in
(72 x 22 x 22) in each
(87 x 22 x 22 in)
(10 x 10 x 4.5) in
(17 x 12 x 6) in
14x 12 x 3) in
(10 x 10 x 2.5) in
I wish to thank with respect and admiration:

Luis Maria Escudero

Javier Buceta

Clara Grimea

Alberto Marquez

Laura Taalman

For the influential contribution of their discovery, the Scutoid,

as an inspiring source for the creation of this artwork.

I define it as an exquisite geometric form, made visible be-

cause of their research.

Pedro Morales.
July 2019.
The Scutoid Series Exhibit

This research is about exploring, learning and finding the

inherent beauty of fractal geometry. Exploration motivates
me, I am attracted to reveal the unknown. The essence of
my work is to explore, and to find.
The Scutoid is a recent biological discovery of exceptional
beauty. I see it as a novel and unexplored geometrical
form that allows me to play with its new geometry, to show
the beauty it offers, so recent, so unknown, yet so forever
present. The Scutoids shape the mesh that is our life.
Resilience takes me beyond certain barriers and beyond
what is apparent.
Mine is also an investigation on the perceptions about a
modern life material, vilified today, nonetheless omnipres-
ent in people’s every day, to the point of becoming part
of what defines us. This age will be known to Palynologists
as the era of plastic. We breathe microplastics today. I ex-
plore art’s role in such a manifesto.
I print my Scutoids on corn-based plastic, PLA. They are
unique sculptures that challenge our views on this material.
Modern life would not have arrived to today’s level of
comfort without plastic. And we consume it voraciously,
transiting through it as fast as we can, ignoring it.
We don’t care to acknowledge that humans are addicted
to plastic and make it quickly disappear from our sight.
The Scutoid Series is then an intimate look at what holds
the human life together, sometimes without us knowing.
With it I bring these two realities to view.
 Pedro MORALES
The SCUTOID Series

b. 1958, Maracaibo VE.

Lives and works between Houston USA and Versailles France.

Pedro Morales is a pioneer of digital art in Venezuela. He repre-

sented his country at the 50th Venice Biennale with an iconic work,
“CITYROOMS.NET”, censored by his government. His investigations
in the visual arts maintain an intimate approach, using everyday
domestic events as a background for his digital work. He has ex-
plored his vision of the picture within the picture with fractal geom-
etry and stereography. 3D vision has been extensively researched
by Morales for more than 25 years. The two-dimensional codes
popular on mobile phones have been dismembered by Morales,
experimenting with new materials and decipherable techniques
using a cell phone. The 3D art pieces come from printers assem-
bled by the artist. Part of the interactivity with his work is mobile
connectivity, each code carries a personal message or URL He is
currently working on the Scutoid Series, a newly discovered geo-
metric shape found in human cells.

http://www.pedromorales.com/pdf/cv.pdf
@pedroamoralesm pedromorales.ve

info@pedromorales.com

Scutoid. Cellular Automata. 3d-print on corn base plastic. 14” x 6.5” x 4”. 2019.