Advisor: Patricia Maurides

New Lens

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

———-Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

In a new lens, the famous quote from Charles Dickens’s novel is also applicable to the present day. We live in a fast-paced era with a lot of fake news. It is difficult for us to stop and think about the duality and authenticity of something. I found that many things are over-marketed and abused in the process of browsing social media. Knowing the traffic password and product selling point has gone beyond the meaning of a certain item itself. For example, the popular concept “metaverse” is trying to create an eye-catching image, and people keep paying for them. Everything has two sides, people can create more possibilities, but it is increasingly difficult to see the essence of things.

In response to this phenomenon in the digital age, I created conceptual images through photography, choosing multiple daily elements with opposite characteristics, through light and shadow, color, and composition to balance an optical illusion and a sense of contrast. I adopted philosophical theories of two sides of things and juxtaposition. Often the objects are placed in unpredicted settings, but they coincide creating new meanings altogether. To hope people can think about how they view the information in the age of media communication and see the whole and multi-faceted truth through empathy, rather than getting lost in the virtual and real world.

References：

1. Elizaveta Litovka is a Ukrainian artist who uses unique shapes and combinations to transform people’s perceptions and perspectives on the elements of life.

2. Through the use of light and shadow and multiple exposure techniques, Polina Washington‘s works perfectly integrate people and the environment, thus creating a virtual psychedelic world.

Background Research:

Virtual concept (Ethics perspective)

Metaverse: It is defined as “a virtual world that uses modern technology to link and create, and to map and interact with the real world.” Technology in the virtual space allows people to experience immersive cloud interaction, which is a dream and vision for the future digital civilization.
Ethics Conflict: From a new perspective—while the “metaverse” brings people longing and hope, it also implies huge risks. The connection of the “Metaverse” has pervasive control over people. When people become puppets of intelligent technology and people cannot control technology, we lose the centrality of people and thus cannot maintain moral values.

Two sides of the same coin (Philosophy)

Dialectical Materialism: The development of things/objects is the result of contradictory movements, so things always have two sides, both opposite and unified.

Technique:

A series of still photography as the expression. Create a new perspective of seeing things through reflection, light, color, and composition. I focused on low shutter speed and double exposure. I added tiny text elements on the surface of photographic photos, which are mainly integrated into photo elements in the form of digital codes. While the digital code defines multiple information elements, it also demonstrates the intrusion and uncertainty of virtual technology at the same time.

Title: Attack, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“Are the flowers in your eyes soft or aggressive?”

Title: Painful, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“Pain in a flower’s internal nerves under the digital footage.”

Title: Burning, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“Ice cubes sweating in the burn.”

Title: Error, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“Water droplets appear error under the reflection of multiple signals.”

Title: Touch, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“A human hand can reach the sky and touch the big tree.”

Title: Geometry, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“The psychedelic and softness of light make us fall into the trap of 3D.”

Title: Upstairs, Date: 2022, Dimensions: 1800 x 1200 px, Mediums: digital photography

“How to find the right direction in the virtual world?”