Romantic App 2.0

Augmented space does not replace the physical. It starts where the physical becomes inhabitable by imagination. It is constructed with a goal to restore the forgotten; a refuge where human mind may dream. That dream, in this case, is to live.

Monarchs, now a thing of the past, have their last portrait painted, standing far from the realm they ruled.

A garden is a colonized form of nature; one which makes its original dwellers become tools in human luxury. These two lament their sad fate as accessories and reminisces the days of the unconquered past.

Horsemen are bringers of apocalypse. While many pious believed the material revolution of the 19th century will bring about the rapture, the horsemen never came.

Industrialization was a mesmerizing dream of human advance for some, and an utter destruction of the old way of life for others. The song it played was both that of salvation and apocalypse.

A spirit mourns for the fate of all those dispossessed; lives and ideas alike. For she knows no one will.

Spies became a part of normal life in the 19th century. They were everywhere; schools, churches, secret societies, and even in an innocent countryside.

My works here aim to focus on how, the artworks presented by those artists, are artificially constructed rather than a reflection of reality. We are looking at the virtual experience, spiritual expression, the emotions, the flow of thoughts, the working methods of the artist, rather than what they are looking at when they are painting the artwork. To emphasize the “artificiality,” I revealed the “behind the scenes” for this work, “In the Heather” by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. He created this scene that is normally described as “dreamlike fantasies” or “nostalgia of the mythical past,” but reversely I am aiming to show how the construction of the artwork is staged and so different from how it looks. So I used hand drawn animations to animate the characters in the scene, as if they are taking a break from posing for the artist. 

The Grand Muveran by Ferdinand Hodler was known for its distinctive art style and symbolic expression. Instead of using the En Plein Air style which focuses on the reproduction of the subject, Hodler combined his symbolic perception into the landscape. In this sense, this artwork is artificially created since it is a reflection of the artist’s internal world rather than the reality. To emphasize the artificiality, I created the virtual “behind the scene” for this painting. I created 3D models of the “mountains,” outlining the shapes appearing in the painting, and layer them together. From the side, viewers will see panels of shapes stacking together, but in the front, the 3D objects are giving an illusion of the 2D painting. It also questions what is real and what is unreal in art.

In this work, I am trying to reflect on the consumer culture of shopping and selecting commodities. I used this painting because of its vibrant color scheme and bold brushwork. Van Gogh created this painting when he moved to Provence from Paris, and this painting was primarily inspired by the vibrant colors he saw in Provence. The colors look so beautiful, and at the same time so artificial. By creating different color versions of the painting, and giving the viewers the power to change them by tapping the screen, I want to create an experience similar to online shopping, where you can virtually try on the products, and eventually, you get lost in the colors and choices you have.

 Instead of moving individuals or painted components, I chose to interfere with the settings of painting with different perspective. Arrival of the Normandy, Gare-Saint Lazare is in perspective of human waiting for the train in the station. When seeing the painting, viewers will assume motions in trains and people around them. However, I wanted to apply motion to the people who are watching this station full of people and trains. Instead of watching the moving crowd standing still, viewers get to experience motion in a perspective of people who are passing by station on a train. The GIF added on is part of the video took on the train looking out the window. The viewer is seeing a scene of painting through window of the train, which is cell phone screens of viewers. I also thought the main motion taking place in the painting was steam coming off the train, so I fixed GIF of steam moving to the painting.

Continuing from my earlier work with train, I chose the painting because of the steam boat. Along with train, steam boat was one of the ground breaking transportation after industrial revolution. Its speed and power was mesmerizing  and fascinating at that time. However, its activeness could not be fully captured inside still painting. Now using a new technology of these days I got to portray late grand technology more active and powerful.

The scene of Waterloo Bridge seemed too calm and inactive to me.  Although painting tried to portray some kind of motion in itself. It is too subtle for us who are used to constant moving of cars and active factories. I created motion to the cars or whatever object on the bridge creating light trails, not only moving sideways but making them spread out all around like lights do.

Trompe-l'œil, as defined by Wikipedia is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Trompe-l'Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain created by Dutch painters Adriaen van der Spelt and Frans van Mieris is a prime example of this. What I hoped to achieve with this piece was to exemplify this idea with computer generated three dimensional simulations. I then manipulated the original painting to change over time, displaying portraits of the original painters within the painting after being revealed by the animated cloth. Trompe-l'œil is sort of a natural precursor to the idea of augmented reality. To implement virtual objects in our real world creates the illusion of a world that exists in parallel, which works in tandem with trompe-l'œil as a concept.

Historically, portrait painting within European traditions acts as a form of documentation and an indication of status. I have replaced the image of this unknown person with an image of a woman with global cultural significance. I hope to critique and admire the tradition of portrait painting with this piece.

The Captive Slave by the English painter, John Simpson, is a hybrid between portrait and genre painting. It depicts a shackled, dark-skinned man, thought to be modeled by the American-born actor Ira Aldridge. The painting is an abolitionist statement. To complicate and propel this painting into an expanded conversation, I’ve reinterpreted the work by digitally collaging it with a portrait of an aristocratic woman by John Singer Sargent. The motif of “the enslaved” present in the original piece becomes less literal in a way and more contemplative of possibly an institutional enslavement; but also, the implied interaction between the male and female figures and the clear dichotomy of class presents a complexity that parallels the original sentiment of the painting.