delaminate

Abstract

delaminate explores illusory surfaces detached from their sources. Referencing architectural forms as a device to speak of the world-building that occurs both in physical and digital realms, the exhibition considers contingencies when 2D images rejoin a three dimensional world, such as the 3D rendering algorithm used by Google Street View. Stage sets, building facades, and malls are rich grounds of inquiry for delaminate. The folly functions as an artificial ruin; a space of uncertain provenance. It belongs to the history of fanciful architecture, from 17th century English gardens (eg. Castle in Hagley Park which was fabricated to appear like a moldering Medieval tower), through to environmental shopping spaces in West Edmonton Mall, and more generally, the ethos of Las Vegas. In generating a contrived spatial experience the exhibition defamiliarizes these well-known architectural elements through digital strategies (copying, decontextualizing, and devaluing) as a means to think critically about ripped images and prolific representations. Here, the fragmentation of reality through the digital apparatus metaphorically operates as ruin.