Ottone Radavi / Portfolio
selected projects  ·  17 years of consistent and persistent recklessness
— selected projects —

Slap Dash Slot

2014-2019 / Participatory sculptural system / Moscow, Russia

Slap Dash Slot assembled from brightly painted interlocking plywood elements with visitors nearby
Project text

A modular sculptural system composed of interlocking elements connected through slots. Initially presented as a pile of parts, the work is collectively transformed by visitors during exhibitions into temporary abstract forms. Building them often requires deep social interaction, collaboration, and unexpectedly active physical effort.

Specifications
Materials
Plywood, acrylic paint
Elements
Modular elements: 0.5-1.5 m
Configurations
Variable footprint: 2-15 m, up to 4 m high
Mode
Collective assembly, public participation, temporary construction

Curiosity Score

2013 / Interactive wall installation / Moscow, Russia

Warning sign graphic from Curiosity Score
Project text

An interactive installation exploring curiosity as a force capable of overriding learned fears, ideological conditioning, and even the instinct of self-preservation. Visitors are invited to insert their fingers into a real electrical socket. Their fingers close the circuit; the socket sparks, smokes, and crackles like a short circuit. Although it does not actually shock anyone, visitors inevitably and reflexively pull their fingers out. A public counter above the socket registers the growing number of users.

Specifications
Materials
Found objects, custom electronics, printed cardboard
Dimensions
2 x 2 m
Mode
Interactive wall installation, sound, smoke, sparks, public score counter

Human Kit

2009 / Participatory wearable sculpture / Moscow, Russia

Human Kit wearable sculpture with colorful soft forms arranged on a participant
Project text

A set of wearable sculptural elements that allows participants in the experiment to continuously reassemble the composition of their own bodies.

Specifications
Materials
Foam forms covered with raincoat fabric and fitted with metal snap fasteners; garments with matching snap fasteners
Dimensions
Variable
Mode
Wearable sculpture, participatory assembly, continuous reconfiguration

Ici on danse

2018 / Participatory interactive installation / Erarta Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

General view of Ici on danse installation with steel frame, LED lighting, punching bag, and patterned floor
Project text

A participatory installation investigating the transformation of aggression through play. Visitors record a message, shout, song, or statement through a dedicated control panel, then physically engage with a punching bag that fragments, distorts, and replays the recording with every swing, turning confrontation into absurdity, laughter, and dance. The work emerged after repeated attempts by Moscow vandals to destroy or break our other installations, which led us to imagine an artwork that could not be destroyed by aggression, only improved by it.

Specifications
Materials
Steel frame, custom LED lighting, custom electronics, Arduino, Max/MSP, punching bag, fabric prints, plywood stand, CNC-cut plastic, microphone, speakers, motion sensor
Dimensions
4 x 4 x 4 m
Mode
Voice recording, physical interaction, sound distortion, light, movement

RazDva

2019 / Inflatable sculpture / State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Front view of RazDva, a tall colorful inflatable sculpture in a wooded park
Project text

A large-scale inflatable sculpture combining visual references from Soviet toy design and pre-revolutionary folk play objects. The work juxtaposes two distinct cultural imaginaries of childhood, creating a hybrid figure suspended between historical eras. Was realised as a collaboration with Maxim Svitchev Yo-mo-yo.

Specifications
Materials
Fans, fabric, sculpting in Blender
Dimensions
12 x 4 x 4 m
Mode
Large-scale inflatable sculpture, outdoor installation, collaborative production

1=0

2020 / Interactive installation / Flacon Design Factory, Moscow, Russia

1=0 interactive inflatable installation with a visitor standing beside the blue structure
Project text

An interactive installation exploring the relationship between individual presence, collective gathering, and mechanisms of social control. The installation responded to the number of visitors standing nearby. A solitary viewer triggered only a faint glow and ambient noise, while the presence of two or more people activated flashing lights, police sirens, and recorded dispersal commands, referencing public-space restrictions and crowd-control measures introduced during the Alexei Navalny protests.

Specifications
Materials
Inflatable structure, police loudspeaker recordings from public protests, LED lighting, motion sensors, custom electronics, sound system, software
Dimensions
Ø 4 m to Ø 0.5 m, L 6 m
Mode
Visitor-responsive installation, light, sound, motion sensing, crowd-control response system

POKE–N–CLICK

2014 / multi-light-and-music interactive installation / Sevkabel Port, St. Petersburg, Russia

Compact POKE-N-CLICK light and sound installation with glowing tubes and reflective control box
Project text

A multi-light-and-music interactive installation built as a social game. A built-in touchscreen with a series of abstract buttons allowed viewers to choose configurations of the object’s sound and light.

Specifications
Materials
Custom electronics, steel cube, mirrored composite facade, LED strip, Arduino, built-in speaker, original samples
Dimensions
H 2 m, Ø 1.2 m
Location
Sevkabel Port, St. Petersburg, Russia
Mode
Interactive light-and-music installation, touchscreen interface, social game

Pangan Tetris

2013 / Participatory sculpture / Moscow, Russia

Pangan Tetris participatory sculpture assembled from colorful printed cardboard modules
Project text

A temporary participatory sculpture created for Maslenitsa celebrations. Visitors assembled changing sculptural compositions from cardboard modules before the work was ultimately burned as a contemporary interpretation of a ritual seasonal effigy.

Specifications
Materials
Cardboard, paper prints, digital prints
Elements
Modular elements: approx. 0.5 x 1 m
Configurations
Variable configurations: 2-4 m
Mode
Participatory assembly, temporary sculpture, ritual burning

POKE–N–CLICK

2014 / city scale version / Interactive light and sound installation / St. Petersburg, Russia

POKE-N-CLICK interactive light and sound installation at night with visitors nearby
Project text

A festival version of the original POKE–N–CLICK project, realised at street scale. Visitors are invited to become co-authors of the work and, through interaction with the built-in drum machine, control the sculpture’s light patterns and transform its sound.

Specifications
Materials
Custom electronics, aluminium frames, lamps, audio samples, drum machine
Dimensions
H 6 m, Ø 4 m
Locations
Erarta Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia / Gorky Park, Moscow, Russia / VDNH, Moscow, Russia
Mode
Interactive light and sound environment, touch interface, public play

Christmas Tree Under Construction

Political satire sculpture / Moscow, Russia

Christmas Tree Under Construction sculpture glowing green with two visitors standing nearby
Project text

A temporary monument to Moscow's large-scale urban renovation programme. Constructed entirely from materials taken from renovation sites, the work transformed construction debris into a parody of a public New Year celebration, reflecting on corruption, public spending, and the aesthetics of permanent reconstruction.

Specifications
Materials
Materials appropriated from Moscow renovation projects
Dimensions
10 x 3 x 3 m
Location
Moscow, Russia
Mode
Political satire sculpture, temporary public monument, appropriated renovation materials

340 Tentacles

2016 / Interactive inflatable installation / Downtown Los Angeles, USA

340 Tentacles interactive inflatable installation glowing at night with a visitor inside the tunnel
Project text

A responsive inflatable installation composed of multiple tentacle-like forms that reacted to the presence and movement of visitors inside the structure. As people entered the tunnel, individual elements inflated and rose around them. The object invited visitors to lean back and fall into these moving, air-filled tentacles.

Specifications
Materials
Hand-sewn fabric structure, six industrial fans, custom electronics
Dimensions
3 x 1.2 x 1.5 m
Location
Downtown Los Angeles, USA
Commission
Commissioned by LA Public Art Fund and the LA Fashion District
Mode
Responsive inflatable tunnel, movement sensing, public-space choreography
29.06.2026  ·  Paris