Artisit: Pascal Dombis

    Pascal Dombis is based out of Paris, France but exhibits shows throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. In Lyon, he had earned an Engineering degree, which gives brief insight to the aesthetic of his artwork. Using the computer medium as a generator for his designs, Dombis produces chaotic images that purposefully represent unstable and irrational environments. His installations may include wall drawings, light boxes, or video.

 

    The above image is entitled Antisana III and was produced as part of a collection in 2000. Upon closer look, recursion is purposefully used to create this organic-looking, large-scale "growth." Specifically, in Antisana, Dombis had taken broken ellipses and morphed them into different shapes and sizes, repeating his layering so many times that it is hard to tell the base unit. The digital line drawings were then presented as larger-than-life images.

    As a viewer walks into the art-space, the digital image encompasses one wall, while the rest of the space is left completely blank white. The white walls further emphasize the digital image. Even more so, Dombis is playing with the notion of simple vs. chaotic, stable vs. unstable. This ideal becomes clear to the viewer as they begin to process the space.

   His most recent work, entitled Eurasia, continues with his personal aesthetic of chaos. This specific installation creates as interactive space in which viewers enter the show room and are actually walking on it. Essentially, it covers the entirety of the floor. Composed of mass amounts of text set in close-knit lines and right angles, to the unfocused eye it can be perceived as a grey cloud. Yet, upon further look from the viewer, one can distinguish the specific lines of text. 

 

    For me, this installation is yet another example of opposites: chaos vs. order, stable vs. unstable. It is left up to the viewer to unravel its mysteries and contemplate what it may mean to them. With digital line drawings the artist wants to invoke a message or feeling through vision, yet with an installation that includes text, the importance of visual design is matched with the importance of interactive reading. Therefore, there are now two modes in which a viewer can make meaning of a piece.

   I, personally, found Pascal Dombis to be inspirational. His artistic vision matches my own. The images and installations seem so simple and so streamline. Yet, instability and chaos are their main medium. Not only are they pleasing to look at, but deep meaning perpetuates even deeper thought.

http://www.dombis.com/work/artwork.htm

http://www.dombis.com/info/info.htm 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_Dombis

Digital Artist: Aziz & Cucher, "Synaptic Bliss: Villette"

   Anthony Aziz and Sammy Cucher created "Synaptic Bliss: Villette Numerique 2004," as it states in the title, in 2004. It was exhibited in Parc de la Villette, Paris. The artists had been working together since 1991 and are based in Brooklyn.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6419433881_a28e0319f1_b.jpg

   The piece consists of a 4 panel installation that projects both video and audio. One can only imagine standing in the midst of these 4 large panels, surrounded by images of micro-biologic nature. The artists intend to create a world that verges on the boundaries of polar opposites. This includes organic and digital, micro and macro.

   I believe that they succeeded in portraying their intentions. If one stands in the center of the installation, the rest of the world is mostly blocked out by these 4 massive screens. One is transported into micro, organic workings, yet can not deny that the images are created in a digital format. I believe that a sense of curiosity is also given. A viewer, unless extremely versed in micro biology, will not know what organism these micro portions belong to. I could imagine interacting with this piece for a long period of time, possibly with a quizzical look upon my face.

   As far as critiques go, I appreciate the work that went behind this installation. It creates a space for the audience to enter, therefore bringing a great deal of viewer interaction into play. Yet, I believe the piece would have worked better in an all white room, allowing the viewer to totally ex-communicate the surroundings beyond the screens.

http://www.azizcucher.net/texts
http://eyebeam.org/projects/synaptic-bliss-villette

Digital Influence

Our latest project was to create sketches that portray our view on how digital technology influences us and our world. Below are two pieces that I created in Photoshop.

The first depicts a women wearing sunglasses. The lenses of the sunglasses were replaced with the login screen of Facebook. "Labeled" is written on her forehead to represent how kids, young adults, and adults may be labeled due to their posts or activity on the digital network.

Here, I choose to portray old vs. new. The combination creates a comedic effect. A cell phone and text have been incorporated to play on the idea of texting at the dinner table and a parent's reaction.