These collages of physically manipulated landscapes are inspired by the excessive amount of travel ads and digital imagery - We don't know what is real anymore, and what isn't.

Transition

Fascinated by the complex relation between technology and nature, my aim is to confront the viewer with the increasingly blurred line between the two.

The work is a visualisation of philosopher Baudrillard’s simulacrum, which explores the idea of imitation. The representation of an object takes on its own shape and barely has a resemblance to the material world any more. ‘Everything I see is true’ aims to make the viewer question their perception of representation. More specifically, the work explores the true simulation of our environment.

The idea of imitating is visible in my work in different ways, some more obvious than others. Some of the images are completely computer-generated – I wanted to see to what extent the computer can duplicate nature and all its laws, so I made the software mimicking elements like water and light. What then happens when seeing all the work together, both photographic and digitally composed work, is that the viewer starts to wonder whether the photographic work is digitally made, and the other way around. In this way, I want to situate the viewer within this space of ambiguity where it is hard to tell the nature of the image.

Everything I see is true

There is a common fear of technology that holds an increasingly larger place in our lives, while at the same time we are dependent on our electronic devices.
I have made several reconstructions of self-portraits as a starting point. The reconstructions show how we are becoming a technological creature, and to what extent we can we replicated.
This work is an ode to the perfection as well as to the imperfections of technology, and to the everlasting attempt of mankind replicating all the natural.

The video captured the installation that was shown at the exhibition. The sculpture is actually a 3D-printed self-portrait which consist of 30 photos. The model is exactly what the computer generates when putting the photos together. On the model, I projected a video of myself, which gives the inanimate a sudden uncanny feeling. While the other works give the impression that technology strives for perfection, this work does the complete opposite. By doing this, I want to question the perfection as well as the imperfections of technology, and how man slowly transforms into a digital being.'


The relation between photography, the virtual and what we consider as reality

In this upcoming project, I am exploring the materiality of photography.

Photography and its materiality

These photographs were taken in the past month and led me to think about the concept of modern hedonism. Some were taken on a holiday last month, which made me confront my own selfishness: even in the midst of a pandemic, we still feel the urge to satisfy our needs. But at what costs?

Pressure Points: ongoing

Casually folding paper was the first step in the series ‘Modifying Reality’. The act of manipulating and altering has always been something that I crave to perform in my work. This comes from the feeling that the world around us progressively consists of not the reality, but reproductions of it.

Add

Maria Makridis