An act of spontaneity is how I devise a theme, or visual aesthetic in a work. Particularly this is done using a mode of aqueous surface design, for example that in the techniques of paper marbling art. This is due to the techniques ability to achieve turbulence, drifting the work further away from any conscious control. This is a supplement of automatism, which was perhaps most notably demonstrated by the Surrealists of the 20th century, specifically by Freud, who used the techniques such as free association and automatic drawing to explore the unconscious mind. It is in the use of this suppression of conscious control, I intend the viewer to consider their optical judgements, thus evoking introspection and visual perception. The ability to extract sense or cognitive association as human beings from a work that has been both partially created by chance and intent could relay information on how we may react to a post digital world.
I proceed by creating a virtual stage, now building on the devised image using digital manipulation software, and creative platforms to implement 3D computer graphics. In this process I consider formal elements, such as shape and colour, and adjust environmental aspects such as orientation, directional light and dimension, considering how all of which hint to a setting or climate. The content is carefully constructed in a way that it is subjective enough for the viewer, allowing them to make their own conclusions and analysis. Using creative platforms allows for a variety of immersive technologies (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality) plus projection methods, both of which I am exploring and contemplating in their combination within an installation space. It is in Gustav Metzger’s ‘Liquid Crystal Environment‘ where I felt prompted in my use of technology. Metzger used heat-sensitive liquid crystals placed between glass slides and inserted into projectors. The slides being rotated, created movement within the liquid, and as the crystals are heated and cooled they changed colour. Technology was central to the piece that Metzger used creatively to construct both the crystal patterns, and the immersive space of the installation.
It was the interactive installation ‘Zoom Pavillon’ by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer that aided my decision project the work onto walls - a panoptic audiovisual installation that featured 12 computerised survellance cameras trained on the public. The piece used facial recognition algorithms to detect visitors and record their spatial relationships within the exhibition space. Although not using robotic cameras and recognition algorithms to interact with the public, I was inspired by the use of changing animation, seeing how the public may interact with a projection, and how they become a part of the artwork.
The physical world is becoming increasingly digital, as the art world follows. Immersive media is becoming more prominent being explored amongst artists and creative pioneers, in particular virtual reality environments. Finding relatability in literature such as Hito Steyerl’s Too Much World: Is the Internet Dead?, and Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation, it is the gap that distinguishes real from virtual, or reality from a simulation that I find thought provoking. I intend to use the work as a catalyst to raise questions about a post digital world with human control. The image is becoming part of the real, and how will this affect society, if at all?