Experiences from the Outside World

From raindrops and sunlight rays, to wind and butterflies, movements and sounds from nature animate these photographic still-life scenes.


Experiences from the Outside World is an innovative project commissioned by the Savannah College of Art and Design through the Alumni Atelier program in Savannah, Georgia, United States. The artwork, a unique combination between still-life photography, motion and sound, celebrates our cultural relationship with the natural world, and challenges and amplifies the way we see, hear, and remember images in the digital age.

By re-imagining still-life photography and new media for the future, I designed expressive and beautiful living stills—a hybrid of still and moving images that reveal perpetual motion. The living stills are enabled by custom image processing techniques to create interactive experiences that go beyond the traditional photographic image.

This contemporary interpretation of the traditional still-life genre is displayed in a lifelike art-viewing experience through the 27″ museum quality frame developed and produced by Meural in New York. In addition, I partnered with artists Lexi Hanson, Brittany Reidy, and Christian Dunbar to pair the set design of each living still with unique materials created through traditional and organic processes.

The living stills are made up of several spontaneous yet controlled moving elements that exist infinitely, to produce a contemplative and thought-provoking experience. The scenes draw inspiration from Savannah’s natural beauty. With animations of subtropical imagined gardens and forests, fruits, butterflies, shellfish, and beehives, the living stills reflect the dynamic mix of local nature and culture.

Each living still aims to transform photography from a static art form into a vehicle that collects and stores the acoustic and motion characteristics of the natural space and its connection to our visual sense. The colors and motion reflect real-world moments of wonderment and reflection. A naturalistic soundscape accompanies the living stills, bringing to light the nature’s complex sounds abstracted into new context.

Experiences from the Outside World

interactive artwork unique edition of living stills, 27" full HD (29" x 18" x 1.5"), and archival inkjet print limited editions upon request.


Experiences from the Outside World is a photographic still-life study that investigates the symphonic aliveness and the fragile interconnectedness of the living world. The series aims to reinforce our cultural relationship with the natural world, and evokes the longing for a romanticized world. Nature encompass every dimension of human interaction, thus these living stills study precisely this relationship with the natural space and its connection to our visual sense.

In these lushly constructed scenes, raindrops, sumptuous flowers, plants, shellfish and butterflies are a reflection of the climate and culture of Savannah, Georgia. The juxtaposition of real and imagined subtropical gardens and forests render nature as an exotic place of fantasy, enticing a sense of emotional participation. The photographs thus draw us into the dynamic mix of local nature and culture, and give appreciation to the natural world, the very foundation of life.

Nature is a place of paradoxes, and the reflection of bridging the ephemeral with the eternal. To sense this mysterious wonderland thriving outside our own worlds, we must lose our perceptions of reality, and enter into an ideal universe of enchanting experiences. The living stills explore from the vantage point of the one looking down in the discovery of a lively nature, the magic about the reality of other living beings.


CLIENT

This project was funded through the Alumni Atelier Program for Alumni Development from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, United States.

The Alumni Atelier, an artist ambassadorship conceived and endowed by SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace, enriches the creative and professional endeavors of distinguished SCAD graduates.

COLLABORATORS

Lexi Hanson (Fibers)
Brittany Reidy (Fibers)
Christian Dunbar (Furniture Design)
Meural (Product)

FEATURES & PRESS

Set Design, Photo/Video & Editing by Gabriela Iancu
Original 4K assets displayed in full HD on Meural frame
UP by Forbes Magazine (2017, print)
MEURAL Gallery Collection (2017, online)
UPPERCASE Magazine (2018, online)

SOUNDSCAPE