Title: Monstrum
“This is a strange moment when people are beginning to wonder where, when, and who they are. There is a new Uncertainty about the shape of land, about this moment in history, about the role we humans play. No wonder we suddenly need tools to orient ourselves, to envision how to cope and where to settle, at a time of ecological mutations, a new map of Earth seems indispensable. But what sort of map?”
- Bruno Latour -
Abstract:
This interdisciplinary project delves into the nuanced realms of Erin Manning's theory of the minor gesture and autistic perception, entwined with Jeff VanderMeer's world-building tools focused on monsters. Synthesizing these frameworks, the study explores the transformative potential of subtle shifts, embodied in the minor gesture, as catalysts for profound social change. In contrast to grand gestures tethered to prevailing power structures, Manning proposes that the minor gesture, with its inherent changeability and risk, acts as a precursor to more perceptible societal transformations.
Drawing inspiration from my neighborhood explorations, guided by the ethos of the minor gesture, I embarked on a visual journey capturing the ephemeral imprints of human existence on urban landscapes. The act of photographing varied textures, surfaces, and found objects became a lens through which the ever-evolving nature of the neighborhood was documented. These traces, whether graffiti, stickers, or discarded items, epitomize a deeply existential human condition—a need to declare one's presence in the world.
Rooted in the concept of monsters as entities that both guard and reveal, my approach extends to the demonstrable nature of the spaces I encountered. These tangible traces, beyond doubt, serve as evidence of the dynamic interplay between individuals and their surroundings. Employing a computational process, I meticulously gathered and image-mapped photographs onto 3D-modeled abstractions of city blocks and buildings. This method allowed for the creation of three monsters, transformed from the amalgamation of images collected during walks, each telling a unique narrative of the neighborhood's collective consciousness.
The methodology involved three distinct walks, each yielding 20 images, collected over time and mapped onto corresponding digital ‘objects’ based on spatial coordinates, size, and orientation. These objects were then visualized in axonometric view, forming the building blocks for the creation of three distinct monsters in a digital 2.5D space. Once formed, the monsters shift between various levels of digital fidelity. These abstractions highlight the complexity and depth of the image making process before subsequently, materializing as vinyl stickers that are reintroduced into the urban landscape, serving as poetic reflections of the complex interplay between human experiences, memory, and the built environment.
This project strives to encapsulate the symbiotic relationship between the dynamic and existential elements of urban life, the poetic expressions of minor gestures, and the enduring legacy of space-making. By transposing these visual narratives back into the urban fabric, the monsters become symbolic agents that contribute to the ongoing dialogue of marking, shaping, and sharing surfaces—a testament to the rich tapestry of urban existence.
“still more fragments of story like the one that had been left in an envelope on my doorstep. Phrases and words that were neither phrases nor words absorbed into me and changed me even more, so that my withered leg became a kind of thick, flat tail and of my two eyes nothing remained but in their place were several eyes, but only one of them could see in the regular way and the others looked across the sedimentary layers before me in that basement and saw the past and all the changes that had been wrought”
Jeff Vandermeir, The World is Full of Monsters -
