Christian Zanotto, ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY I AM THE PRESIDENT selfportrait’, Mixed digital medias photographically transferred on crystal, 2011. Courtesy: Christian Zanotto. Christian Zanotto chooses crystal as the element onto which to entrust his images. An alchemic procedure in which crystal, the aseptic, motionless and inert substance, is rianimated by means of a chemical reaction obtained through light, using a procedure of photographic exposure, then covering the surface of the crystal with an emulsion of micro-crystals. The result obtained radiates light over the entire work, bestowing an extraordinary clarity to the figures portrayed; the artist moulds his figures in every detail and dimension, using sophisticated software and photographic techniques to pick out and fix details like real human skin, fabrics, lace, gold, so as to be able then to create textures with which to cover his figures.