I leave everything here, as if it were the legacy of a lifetime, as if I had accumulated an ocean of wealth and wanted to leave it to you. But I haven’t done anything yet, and I’m not even at the first step of the stairway to hell. So please arm yourself with patience and have faith. In the end, it will all be here in the treasure chest of the time machine.
Zero, like the Arché, constitutes the origin of things, that from which everything comes, and their destination, that to which everything returns.
One Thousand and One dreams
In the autumn of 1998, the first front page of Element-Zero.com was created from a mixed-media artwork that combined scanned acrylic paintings, prints, and collage. The design depicted a blueprint of a medieval underground alchemy lab, setting the tone for the site’s experimental and symbolic identity.
The animated homepage menu was structured around the lab’s “rooms,” each representing a creative discipline tied to the Element-Zero acronym. For example, AI (Adobe Illustrator) stood for Illustration/Digital Art, HTML for Web Design, JPEG for Photography, and so on.
Element-Zero v.2 (1999)
By the time The Matrix hit theaters, the second version of the Element-Zero homepage was already making waves. Its content was entirely dedicated to the fusion of cutting-edge technology and a unique “digital sculptor” approach.
“Art has nothing to do with the squalid repetition of the Goddess Nature,” Lazzaro whispers in the site’s new intro soundtrack.
Soon after, Element-Zero’s interactive world expanded with Khoreia: The Choral Dance—a Festival of Digital Arts, debuting in Chinatown, Los Angeles, and Wild Children, an ambitious initiative born from Element-Zero’s Creative Community.
Element-Zero v.3 (2001)
The success of the “Khoreia” Digital Art Fest and a Flash animation created for Burning Man 2K propelled Element-Zero.com to unexpected levels of popularity. By early 2001, it had emerged as one of the first true “online communities.” This rise was fueled by the steadfast support of Los Angeles tribes, positive reviews in LA Weekly, and, most notably, the endorsement of Burning Man’s Mistress of Communications, who published the work of the Italian artist.
Five years before the rise of social media, Lazzaro was already engaging with his followers in real time. His digital creations often sparked external contributions—music, poems, images, and photographs—that expanded the vibrant universe of Element-Zero.