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Shi Zheng
11_Umwelt_06.jpeg
​© Shi Zheng, Umwelt, multi-channel video installation, 2019
"Shi Zheng has focused on the virtual landscape and the internal system behind screen.”

virtual landscape

digitalized nature

latent time

computer vision

observation

transfer of energy and matter

shared landscape

“Umwelt” (2019) was commissioned by curator Fram Kitagawa for the 2019 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (SUSAS). The work subverts the natural landscape, using an installation of four screens displayed as a metaphorical “tree” which exchanges energy and matter. (Zheng, 2019)

 

The main structure of the installation acts as a metaphor for the "tree" “which supports the constant exchange and transfer of matter and energy in the environment. In this parallel simulated reality, the screens hanging in different directions perform the role of mirrors, reflecting the visual landscape shared by both human and machine” (Gazell Art House, 2020).

Zheng, uses the screen to act as a mirror reflecting the visual landscape in a distorted digital setting. The samples for the videos are taken from the Chongming Island National Forest Park near Shanghai. He virtually reconstructed the natural landscape through digital technology and then used a computer vision system to observe this virtual environment. (Zheng, 2019)

Key Takeaways

Why is it relevant to me?

Zheng is interesting for my work because he uses the screen in a special way. At the same time he references the tree as a symbol of exchange and a distorted perception of nature. I am very interested in this connection of the digital to nature and the overlaying of nature with the digital that tries to read information. Zheng shows an unusual view of nature and creates a simultaneity of scenarios running in parallel, so that the visitor hardly gets the opportunity to grasp the whole event from one point of view. The idea of an observation by the algorithm is also an interesting observation.

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What are my key take aways and how can I implement them?

I can learn from this how simultaneity can be created in a work and that the screen can be reinterpreted. The hanging in a metal construct reminds me of Anadol's projections in which images are superimposed in grids. I could also make my allusions to nature more technical/geometric in my work and maybe keep the natural colors. I am fascinated by the lightness of the construction and the play with the negative spaces.

References

 

Gazell Art House (2020), Gazelli Art House London
To Open Permanent Virtual Reality Library. Available at: 
https://gazelliarthouse.com/usr/documents/exhibitions/press_release_url/118/gazelli-art-house-_-vr-library-launch-_-november-2020.pdf (Accessed: 21 Oct 2021)

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Zheng, S (2019) Umwelt. Available at: https://shi-zheng.net/works-umwelt.html
(Accessed: 10 Jan 2022)

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