ANALOG AS NATURE
In development
Analog versus digital. Nature versus destruction. The battle unfolds on a giant cube, where analog devices casting natural landscapes compete with intermittent AI-powered digital projections of climate disaster. The convergence and clash of these visuals invite reflection on the fragility of our environment and the profound consequences of unchecked technological advancement.
Analog As Nature, is a large-scale, multimedia, multi-channel art installation exploring the theme of environmental precarity through the interplay of analog and digital imagery projected onto the surfaces of a 10-foot cube.
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Harnessing light and shadow, layered collages of moving film and photographic transparencies create natural landscapes. From ground level, numerous analog devices cast these images upward. Over time, these serene settings are disrupted by oversaturated, AI-generated digital projections mounted above, depicting climate-induced disasters such as rising tides and wildfires.
The high-lumen, nearly blinding digital light appears to dissolve the analog images, leaving spectators in silence and darkness as they contemplate the experience. After a long pause, the gentle whirring of analog devices signals their return to life. Rhythmic clicks form a sonic landscape as shadows stretch and reshape into a moving seascape of large rock outcroppings and waves.
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Spectators can also enter the cube, immersing themselves in analog visuals. With anaglyph lorgnettes in hand, they watch as red/cyan shadows transform into frothy seafoam rising to their ankles.
The theory of media archaeology examines how media formats and technologies have shaped –and have been shaped by– societal shifts. Analog As Nature features devices from different eras; vintage overhead projectors (invented in 1850) personifying nature settings, 16mm film crafting moving textures (invented in 1924), custom designed stereoscopic shadowgrams exploring 3D (invented in the 1920's), digital projectors (invented in the 1980s), and modern AI generators depicting global warming (2022–current). The project explores AI-generated visualizations of climate change to examine visual clichés of climate catastrophe.
My methods are personal. My primary art practice has historically centered around creating with shadows, using handmade halogen lights. Early in my career, theater directors noticed my work and invited me to design large-scale shadows for their productions. Unfortunately, my lights were no match for their professional theatrical lights. Some productions also involved video designers, which added another layer of complexity. To accommodate my shadow choreography, the bright theatrical lights and video projections had to be dimmed—a request that caused tension. This challenge ties directly to the theme of my current project: analog versus digital.
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By personifying the natural world through analog imagery, I aim to highlight its organic beauty. Analog visuals possess a unique, almost visceral quality—they evoke a gestalt, inviting our minds to fill in the gaps making the experience inherently interactive. In contrast, digital video (composed of millions of pixels) emits light at the viewer. Using AI-generated, pixelated, and oversaturated images to depict climate catastrophe creates a striking metaphor for an ecosystem spiraling out of control due to global heating. The dissonance between analog and digital becomes a powerful lens through which to examine humanity’s role in this environmental crisis.
The current images and video on this site document proof-of-concept experimentation using found 16mm films, colored gels, cutouts, transparencies, and a 5-foot paper cube.
These are early explorations, not final designs.
Recipient of the New York State Council for the Arts Support for Artist grant and the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art grant.
