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Gaslight Mushroom

“Gaslight Mushroom” is a thought-provoking animated digital sculpture that delves into the pervasive influence of social media and the emergence of the Metaverse, drawing attention to our intimate yet addictive habit of endlessly scrolling through online content.

The artwork portrays a hyperreal interpretation of the gaslight effect, where we are bombarded with an overwhelming amount of digital information through our cell phones, much of which is deemed trivial and unnecessary.

In crafting this digital sculpture, the artist compiled a vast dataset symbolizing the excessive weight of digital imagery we encounter daily. Through this artistic representation, viewers are invited to immerse themselves in the hyper-information landscape, confronting the digital matter that has become an integral part of modern existence.

The visual impact of the artwork evokes a dystopian atmosphere, reminiscent of an atomic bomb explosion, highlighting the potential destructive consequences of information overload.

 

The artist presents a compelling exploration of the Instagram algorithm’s role in shaping our perception of popularity while favoring certain images over others. By analyzing skin tones,

the algorithm perpetuates a skewed representation of popularity, raising questions about the impact on society’s collective psyche and reinforcing Debord’s theory from the book “Society of the Spectacle. ”Inspired by this theory, the artwork reveals the transformation of the real world into a realm of mere images, captivating and controlling behavior in a hypnotic manner.

 

As viewers contemplate the spectacle’s influence, they may recognize the dangerous trade-off

between passive consumption of images and a deeper understanding of one’s own existence and desires. Ultimately, “Gaslight Mushroom” serves as a visual commentary on the phenomenon of image obesity and the bombardment of false information that engulfs our lives, creating an invisible enemy that threatens to numb the masses.

 

The artwork challenges viewers to break free from the screen of fog and lethargy generated by the spectacle, encouraging a critical examination of our own relationship with social media, technology and the quest for genuine connection and self-realization.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

 

The simulation of the digital sculpture was done in Houdini using a pyro fluid solver to get the

overall dynamics of a mushroom cloud. Points are then simulated to flow through the mushroom cloud’s velocity field. Each point is then replaced with a photograph from a bank (large dataset) of popular and unpopular images, based on the point’s velocity and position.

 

The elements are rendered in 2 passes: A color pass and a shadow pass. They were composited in Nuke. Special thanks to Dan Bornstein and Greg Ecker.

 

Timecode, MPEG-4 Video, 3840x2160, HD (1-1-1)

The video is a 00:42' and plays in a constant loop to give the impression of a digital sculpture that is moving in perpetuity.

Currently Showing at The Leonardo Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah

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