“Penumbra” by Dennis Del Favero
Title:
- Penumbra
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Artist Statement:
Penumbra is an AI immersive art installation exploring the visualisation of an unpredictable ex-treme wildfire scenario using a pyro-aesthetic, namely an aesthetic based on the violent qualities of extreme wildfire. These new generation of fires, recently seen in Maui, are extreme in their speed and scale. They are unpredictable as they traverse terrains in unforeseen ways, unlike the linear and predictable paths of bushfires.
Penumbra 2.0 investigates this pyro-aesthetic as a two-way dialogue between the viewer and a fire-laden landscape, rather than a linear relationship between an active human protagonist and a passive “natural disaster”. It aims to model the uncertainties that characterize such exchanges. On the one hand, the unanticipated actions of the user, and on the other, the fire’s unforeseen behav-ior. As the user traverses the landscape, they attempt to control their perspective through their movement and orientation of gaze. The fire responds in autonomous ways by changing its behavior. Conversely, unexpected changes in the wildfire induce shifts in the user’s actions as they attempt to address the uncertainty.
