“Blurring Boundaries Between the Real and the Virtual — About the Synthesis of Digital Image and Physical Space” presented by Jakob
Symposium:
- ISEA2008: 14th International Symposium on Electronic Art
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More presentations from ISEA2008:
Session Title:
- Reality Jamming 2
Presentation Title:
- Blurring Boundaries Between the Real and the Virtual — About the Synthesis of Digital Image and Physical Space
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
I am a designer and artist researching and working in the area of digital media, textiles and surfaces, currently finishing my PhD at Bath Spa University in UK.
The subject of the paper emerges from my ongoing experimental and creative work, which focuses on conditions leading to the synthesis of digital imagery and physical surface, to the fusion of digital display and materiality. I explore how the interaction between both can be utilised to create ambiguous visual experiences (such as the effect of elusive depth), playing with our perception and evoking the confusion and interference of the real and the virtual.
The paper explains the progress of my work against the contextual background of recent developments in digital media and its impact on architectural spaces and the urban environment, as well as of current tendencies in Western culture, such as the increasing desire for the playful, the seductive and the illusionary. The notion of spatial illusions and our seeing of space and form, influenced by digital display technologies, is discussed.
Within my work, I achieve visual transformation and the overlap of realities by applying projection technology. Sequences of animated patterns are superimposed onto material of varying surface qualities, modified through printing. As a result, the projected image and the printed image/surface merge in such a way that it becomes difficult to distinguish between what is virtual and what is real.
During a recent exhibition at Bath Spa University, I presented aspects of my explorations within a spatial installation, employing multiple projections and layers of transparent, printed material. Further, I have been working in collaboration with choreographer Chrissie Harrington (UK), experimenting with projections on moving performers and textile panels, creating virtual worlds which either dissolve or emphasise the human body. My extended research also includes the investigation into the emerging OLED display technology. Thereby its potential of introducing materiality and tactility to the digital image, fusing the virtual with the physical, is of particular interest.
