BEING CLOSE

2017 - Mixed media installation

BEING CLOSE is an audiovisual installation that simultaneously creates the experiences of closeness to and distance from nature. Combining digital forms of representation and physical elements, it addresses the viewer on various experiential levels; closeness is perceived through the physical dimension, yet at the same time the constructedness of the situation is perceived through the manifest use of digital technologies.

The installation consists of a metal structure encompassing a dense volume of plants. An aisle made of wooden floor boards that cuts through the center of the installation enables the viewer to move from one side to the other in between the plants. A video work showing a digital representation of nature is projected on a screen attached to the back side of the metal structure, thereby forming a contrast with the physical elements present. A sound and scent composition equally are part of the work, as are the tactile traits of the materials and plants that were selected. The various elements of the installation come together in a layered and paradoxical experience.

The project takes an important societal evolution as its subject; the digitalization of our life world and its effects on the human relationship to the (natural) environment.