Source: RADIO24

official article excerpt:

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:00:07 – 00:00:36

What will be the jobs of the half towards tomorrow? In futurist literature and science fiction? Thanks to the middle verse, one interacts on the internet as in a single universal, immersive virtual world, facilitated by the use of headsets for virtual reality and augmented reality. But it is true that half of it will count more and more in the professions of the future which, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will reach one billion people in a decade and create millions of jobs. And Bloomberg estimates that the economy of the Metaverse could reach a value of around 800 billion dollars by 2024. And so we, with a series of original podcasts of the jobs of tomorrow, travel to discover the jobs of the middle verse to understand how form and where the most sought-after figures in the sector are missing. Today we talk about the Metaverse Art Director. It is a professional figure who manages and coordinates all the activities related to the creation of a Metaverse and like an artist, starting from the choice of materials, shapes and colors to get to the sensations, mixing everything with technology in a new world that can be game and business for business and fun or all together in a new world. And we, as always on the Radio24 website on the tomorrow’s work program page next to the podcast, will immediately indicate useful sites and links to click on for information on training. Why not? Tips on the opportunities for this figure to focus on, to encourage European confounders for his training, his development. This is the way forward for young people.

Not only…. this is the path that Cesare Catania, Metaverse Art Director, tells us about.

Cesare Catania

00:01:44 – 00:02:25

But let’s say that a typical day is a day that takes place in a somewhat chaotic way…. but very diverse. It can be a day spent painting and drawing and sculpting in the traditional way. And then maybe some other days. Where where I put everything together and maybe I process everything on the computer. So I work with some software, a bit more advanced modeling software. Let’s say that a typical day is a day in the balance between real reality and the Metaverse.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:02:25 – 00:02:29

What does the Metaverse art director do?

Cesare Catania

00:02:29 – 00:03:14

It’s a good question… Let’s say that the Metaverse Art Director builds and designs environments, therefore containers and landscapes. Containers where digital objects are then placed inside. So specifically he builds realities, cities, countries rather than simply rooms which in some way then host digital art and which also host users who want to live a life in an immersive way.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:03:14 – 00:03:29

This type of job what earnings gap has now. How much is it valued by the market? Because it adds a brand new perk…

Cesare Catania

00:03:29 – 00:04:01

In my opinion it is comparable to what an architect’s economic life can be. So just as there are architects who perhaps make a more basic design, there are also the “starchitects”. Likewise, the artistic director of the Metaverse is in some way the architect of the Metaverse itself. So he can be a professional figure similar to that of a digital architect.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:04:01 – 00:04:15

to get here everything is future…. In short…. this perspective, of course, which is brand new and of a new generation… where did you train and where did you start from?

Cesare Catania

00:04:15 – 00:05:08

I started my academic career in the traditional way. I have a degree in civil engineering and then after a few years I decided to be an artist by profession. I started out as a traditional artist, then at first as a painter. Then I also included sculpture over the years and I understood that digital art could serve me for educational purposes, also to explain my cubist artwork. Since then NFTs and the Metaverse became commonly used terms, I practically had almost everything ready… So the digital artist part was almost the natural development of a traditional background.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:05:08 – 00:05:29

Truly a complex training but very rich in your path… because then you actually put up “brick by brick”. You’ve basically set up a new perspective for the future. And this is why we ask you, from your privileged point of view, which paths and advice would you like to give to those who decide to undertake a training like that of your figure?

Cesare Catania

00:05:29 – 00:06:14

Curiosity is the basis of everything, including for this kind of training. It seems like a sentence almost read in a book and taken for granted, but in reality it is exactly like that. Because there isn’t a real school today that teaches how to become the artistic director of the Metaverse. There are schools that in some way form you from an artistic point of view. There are schools that train you from a technical point of view such as engineering and architecture. But in reality there is no school that teaches you how to make people dream. The artistic director of the Metaverse is called to do just that, therefore basically to create immersive realities that allow everyone to daydream.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:06:14 – 00:06:19

And is it already a highly sought-after job and where can it be found?

Cesare Catania

00:06:20 – 00:06:49

In reality at the moment there is not a saturated market. In this sense, it is a growing market. The Metaverses are being born and growing, so it is certainly a market ready to receive a job offer. The problem is that the training of the artists and technicians in charge is often not adequate, so the artistic director of the Metaverse is certainly a highly sought-after figure.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:06:49 – 00:07:35

Then it’s time to take notes! Thanks to the curiosity that has risen with respect not only to the Metaverse, but also to the artistic direction of this new world. Let’s summarize: take pen and paper on your devices, off with your notes and let’s hear what indications to train, find out about job search. As with every episode of “tomorrow’s jobs” on the Radio2 website! Today we do it thanks to Cesare Catania, artistic director of the Metaversi. What advice? Straight ones?

Cesare Catania

00:07:35 – 00:08:36

First a lot comes up on Google…. For example, “Spatial” comes to mind, one of the first who started to approach this kind of reality. …. substantially the artistic direction aims not only to physically build the Metaverses but also to manage a work team that somehow approaches the Metaverse to build parallel worlds and realities. So imagine as if he were a sort of architect who supervises from above “getting his hands dirty”. So we do both: we design, plan and organize a work team. You can find a lot of information about me on the website, therefore www.cesarecatania.eu

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:09:30 – 00:09:41

and from your point of view we want to know a future development of your figure. What development do you see?

Cesare Catania

00:09:41 – 00:10:21

so I believe that in the next few years, the Metaverse will somehow start to interfere with real everyday reality. At this moment the Metaverse is seen as a third reality in its own right compared to the real reality of every day that is lived in an ordinary way by people. In my opinion, in the near future, when above all devices will be ready to bring 100% immersive realities to life, real reality and the metaverse will probably begin to almost converge. So we will probably live realities where people will wear glasses, particular Oculus, and will experience the reality that surrounds them with additional information in augmented virtual reality. And this thing, in my opinion, at the moment is not very far away… And the artistic director of Metaversi in this case will be able not only to build Metaversi, but will also be able to collaborate with the fashion brand, brands of any kind that want to somehow amplify the sensations of their users through the experience of the Metaverse.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:10:57 – 00:11:13

let’s say it’s a new step in art, a new step also in work that becomes a job for tomorrow. It is precisely the artist’s work that becomes applicable in any sector. The setting for a new showcase, for a new revolution. How was the internet?

Cesare Catania

00:11:13 – 00:11:43

Exactly. You said right, exactly a revolution like the internet has been. The fundamental thing, however, in my opinion is that both the digital artist and the artistic director of the mid-verse somehow do not abandon traditional art, in the sense that it is always good for them to leave a foot in reality, in traditional art and one foot in digital art. This is precisely in order not to somehow distort the Metaverse from the artistic contents.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:11:43 – 00:11:59

Because in this way it is attractive, in short, and that it is somehow also fascinating…. We could call it “the Stendhal syndrome of the Metaverse”. It could also happen to be fascinated, excited and to add emotions even in this world.

Cesare Catania

00:12:00 – 00:12:38

Absolutely yes. Because the traditional artist is used to working in 2 dimensions, the sculptor in three dimensions and the Metaverse amplifies these sensations. So he adds many other qualities but maybe he loses others. So the complete figure is a figure that somehow always manages to balance between two worlds: the real one and the virtual one. Therefore to excite the user in real reality through the metaverse and to excite the user who navigates the metaverse through real art forms.

Journalist – Anna Marino

00:12:38 – 00:13:01

Have you heard from Cesare Catania, Metaverse Art Director. We remind you of the full extra version of tomorrow’s works online every Friday with a new original podcast and on Saturdays from 10:55 to 15:00 and broadcast with a pill extract on Radio24.