NATURE IN VIRTUAL LANDSCAPES, 2019-20 

GOOGLE EARTH YOSEMITE PROJECTION

This film is part of a project looking at the ways we experience nature in the 21st century. Focusing on the life and work of naturalist, author and environmental activist John Muir, I created a series of works that aimed to apply his experience of nature in the 1800s to a contemporary context.

The works I created contemplate virtual, simulated and technology-based versions of nature. Increasingly we distance ourselves from nature and the natural world, yet we still have a deep psychological connection to it, and are fully reliant on its preservation for our survival as a species.

For this film I used clips of the slowly rendering landscapes found in Google Earth’s 3D projections of Yosemite National Park. Throughout the film I ask questions regarding the nature of virtual nature and the surreality of this miniature version of reality.

VIRTUAL LOG CABIN

Occupying a secluded, warm, dry and digital space. Staking my claim in a virtual landscape. I ask that people respect my privacy in the virtual log cabin and please leave me alone.

HOW TO EXPERIENCE THE VIRTUAL WILDERNESS

This film is the final work I made for the project. Taking elements from the other pieces I made, this one focuses on the idea of a future with a very limited access to real nature. The film considers surreal and not-so-surreal ways that humans of a distant future might exist in the only version of a natural world they have left.

ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGES: