Tagging the virtual
Photogrammetry: In between the virtual and the physical space
This one comes a bit late as my design research alter-ego was quite busy preparing a workshop alongside Hugo Pilate. A part of preparing this particular workshop involved using Google Earth images of 3D locations and I got to say that, after playing with it for a while, I immediately fell in love with the flawed aesthetic of photogrammetry. If you want to check others’ work using this technique, it’s worth to take a look at the work of Oddviz, an artist collective based in Istanbul, who display the imperfections of the technique in perfectly organised 3D grids.
Also related to this intersection between the digital and physical space, I spent the last week reading through issue 3 of TypeOne magazine, which focused on graffiti and street art, and more specifically, on how AR (Augmented reality) and virtual spaces can influence the future of graffiti and how these technologies relate (or not) to its roots. It’s particularly interesting to see how graffiti and street artists look at these new technologies as a way to make their pieces more dynamic and engaging while at the same time sharing the fear of getting absorbed by commercial incentives and losing connection to the subversive nature of art in the public space.
All in all, I’m still not sure what’s the place for all this new tools and techniques (3D, photogrammetry, AR, VR,…) in my own work. But, in the meantime, I decided to create an Are.na board to collect random snapshots of graffiti that I spot while exploring the world on Google Earth. Will the satellite become the new train for graffiti writers? I’m not completely sold on the idea but it’s certainly interesting to explore how graffiti writers’ attitude in the public space could play out in virtual spaces.