Brave New World
I have conceived and customized the series Brave New World (Huxley, 1932) entirely within the Metaverse sandbox, using it in a way comparable to catoptric theatre. These models are then captured in different virtual picture formats and videos (e.g., Chimera), shot within the Metaverse from a first-person perspective, known as First-Person Shooter (FPS) in video games, here replaced by the virtual camera of my avatar. The production contents are subsequently reimported into the physical world as drawings (e.g., Brave New World drawings on parchment), similarly to the Jewish mystical tradition of עולמות (Olamot, “worlds”), in which virtual and physical realms coexist simultaneously.
These Virtual Worlds Productions (VWP) can be experienced in 2D or in the immersive space of virtual reality (VR) through a Head Mounted Display (HMD), as videos, sound-spaces, 180° and 360° formats, and VR Looking Glass Holographic Display (LKG / Quilt Camera) images. They are also presented within the physical exhibition space in the form of drawings and photographs. Thus, virtual and physical worlds are presented as coexisting and interdependent manifestations of the same work.
The series of drawings Brave New World are made on parchment whose inner structures, namely blood vessels and microvascular arteries, were highlighted and reconnected artificially with red pen and ink. The parchments were collected from a ritual Jewish scribe (Sofer Setam). Each piece was assembled to build a unique surface, through a process comparable to stained-glass construction. The parchment’s see-through quality produces an optical depth close to that of stained glass.
Consequently, the drawings involve time as a material, as their perception depends on the varying conditions of natural daylight intensity as well as the side from which they are observed (recto-verso).
" Klaf scrolls" (Digital pictures, 2022).
Animal parchment usually used for Jewish liturgical here used as material for the drawings serie "Brave New World",
"Orbital". (Mix media on parchment, 2022. Format 138cm x 68 cm, recto side without light).
"Organs Printing II". (Mix media on parchment, 2022. Format 161x 92cm, verso side without light).
Animation
Video, 1.29 mn, 2025
Animation
The title Animation refers both to the moving image and to the act of giving life through light. The drawings unfold through shifting daylight, revealing different temporalities of reading and perception. Each moment becomes an illumination or an eclipse, where knowledge as enlightenment is taken literally. The materiality of the parchment, its porous texture and varying opacity, filters illumination unevenly, shaping how light becomes the agent of animation, giving or withholding life from the surface. As daylight moves across the drawings, forms emerge, fade, and reappear, turning visibility itself into a rhythm.
Chimera
"Chimera". VR video shot within a metaverse engine; duration 5.35 mn; MP4 format; 2021.
Music from mixed samples: Philip Glass - Musicbox - Wiener Glass Harmonika Duo; Thomas Bloch - Music For Glass Harmonica.
"Chimera" is part of the larger installation "Brave New World", encapsulates an intricate blend of digital techniques and historical archival practices. Its primary resource is the Jerusalem Christ Church Collection of Glass Plate Negatives (GPN). This assemblage, emblematic of the early 20th century, boasts approximately 8000 Glass Plate Negatives, termed "autochromes", spanning three continents and predominantly captured during the 1920s and 1930s. The "autochromes" employed in this video predominantly trace their origin to the Asian continent, with a particular emphasis on pictorial records from Jerusalem within the specified time frame.
Historically, the term "Chimera" delineates a mythical entity composed of varied animal parts. Analogously, the video echoes this hybridization concept, portraying characters as amalgamated entities. Such a conceptual framework mirrors the speculative discourse surrounding the burial sites of venerated figures from monotheistic traditions in Jerusalem. According to religious narratives and regional traditions, esteemed figures have been ascribed multiple speculated burial locations, occasionally even for specific body segments. When interpreted literally, such assertions lead to the conception of anatomically anomalous forms, perhaps bearing multiple heads. Consequently, the video visually materializes this notion, presenting creatures that embody these historical conjectures.
Drawing on the methodologies of the documentaries of the filmmakers Angela Ricci Lucchi and Yervant Gianikian, the video "Chimera" utilizes archival material from this private collection. The choice of music, featuring the glass harmonica, serves to reinforce the message that historical artifacts, when manipulated to serve a political agenda, can become as perilous and fragmented as shards of glass. This instrumental choice underscores the inherent dangers of distorting historical narratives for present-day objectives whose music throbbing rhythm is like a a creaky, enchanted carousel. The transformation of static shots into video can be described as "reanimation," denoting a metaphorical revival of previously dormant historical content. It should be noted that my access and right to use the entirety of this collection was given to me to thank me for the work I did which is the entire digitization and organization of this cultural heritage archive of the Glass Plates Negatives collection. Worth of mention, until this point had not been exhibited in the public domain.