Zolty, a 2002 UD graduate, and his BREAKFAST crew had their Biennale debut in April, and the piece will remain on display until the exhibition closes in late November.

For BREAKFAST, incredible opportunities like the Biennale showcase have become a theme over the past five years. The studio creates kinetic art — pieces that move and often incorporate the movements of people who view and interact with them. The results are striking and have caught the attention of renowned auction house Christie’s (where BREAKFAST had its debut showing five years ago), various art fairs and individual buyers who want unique pieces for their collections. Much of that success can be attributed to one word, something that Zolty learned from his time at UD: grit.

Zolty spent his first semester in Newark as a computer science major, but the lack of creativity in his day-to-day life was taking a toll. Art had always been one of Zolty’s biggest interests growing up, and when he walked into the art building at UD, he instantly felt at home.

The visual communications program quickly caught his eye. As an exclusive, small program, students work closely with professors in a challenging, creative studio environment. At the end of his first year, Zolty was one of around 150 students who applied to the visual communications program. Only 30 were accepted and, after their sophomore year, that group was culled down to 17 students.

Vying for a spot in the program meant every aspect of every project had to be perfect. The work was demanding, designed to set students up for success in ultra-competitive creative fields after graduation.

“Everything had to be perfect because they were teaching us how to present,” Zolty said. “If you're going to be a professional, if you're going to do this and do it really, really well, you have to go for perfection.”

That’s certainly the case for BREAKFAST’s art. The studio — which Zolty describes as a single artist comprising “a 17-person orchestra” — engineers everything on its own. From the circuit boards, to the motors, to the pieces of metal, BREAKFAST makes it all. For the pieces to function as intended, there’s no room for error.

Perfection was especially important for “The Pearl,” the recently installed centerpiece of the Royal Caribbean cruise line’s Icon of the Seas, which is structurally part of the ship and took more than four years to complete.

At 45 feet tall and 53 feet wide, “The Pearl” is the world’s largest kinetic sculpture and uses real-time Caribbean tidal and wind data to mimic its environmental conditions.

“That piece is so incredibly complex, sitting within an even more complex structure,” Zolty said. “There were people on our team that literally were living in Finland [where the ship was assembled] for about three months at a time, just because it was so new, so different. We just had to be really precise about it … I mean, that's 9,000 motors moving 24 hours a day.”

Zolty was initially apprehensive when he was asked to start designing the piece back in November 2019. He worried the project would feel wrong given BREAKFAST’s focus on sustainability, but he decided to move forward after learning about the steps taken to make the ship more eco-friendly, like capturing and repurposing engine waste heat and a system to reduce drag in the water.

Many of BREAKFAST’s other pieces are commentaries on social issues, particularly climate change. The artwork uses data to showcase things like real-time ice melt and air quality. The pieces are eye-catching and interactive, which is exactly what Zolty wants: to catch someone’s attention and tell a deeper story once they’re hooked.

“Most of our stories focus on significant social issues because they matter deeply to us," Zolty said. "The pieces I love the most are those that address these issues. Those are the ones I truly appreciate."

In only five years, BREAKFAST’s impact in the art world has been astonishing, but Zolty says there’s more growth ahead. There’s something Zolty has wanted to do for years, something so difficult it scares him sometimes: outdoor kinetic sculptures.

“My whole goal is to be making the modern-day Eiffel Towers,” Zolty said. “Big iconic sculptures don't really get made that much to begin with anymore, but imagine if they are moving. That is a future that excites me.”