Beyond The Canvas - legacy

Game view, Beyond the Canvas - legacy, 2015, Tonio Mundry

For centuries, new technologies have always influenced people’s imagery and thereby also altered our perception of reality. So it stands to reason that the arts deal with the subject of the increasingly technological nature of nearly every aspect of life and to use the latest technologies to enhance the artistic possibilities and create corresponding works. Thus, it is my intention to implement new technologies as a tool to depict and at the same time challenge the perception of our "real" life, which of course is already greatly influenced by digital media of all sorts. Reality is the basis of my artistic work. However,I want tog o one step further, as I illustrate the boundaries between reality and illusion by trying to dissolve or to blur them. The overall theme of my artistic work involves phenomena of perception, immersion and manipulation, which by the means of classical painting in combination with those of virtual reality let viewers become a part of the artwork. At first glance, ​Beyond the Canvas suggests a classic exhibition of several oil paintings. In addition, the viewer is invited to enter the painting through an Oculus Rift. In this virtual space image, objects can be viewed from all sides; one can enter a new landscape or look out the window, take a peek behind the image objects and reveal the hidden. Therefore,theviewer takes part in the merger of real and virtual worlds. An experience which has already been shown by Salvador Dalí in 2D, that, with the new technical tools, now becomes possible in a virtual reality. What sounds like a help to escape reality, rather corresponds with the desire forunificationoftwoworlds and the dissolution of the picture frame; which also represents my original idea: The creation of a walk-in painting. The painting itself, which serves as a door to the virtual world, is a translation of 3D objects on a plane surface, the spatiality is nullified. They seem like some kind of template or construction paper, which is determined by the optimum use of space. The mentioned painted objects a redigitalized witha 3Dscanning technology and translated by a program to a point cloud, from which in turn a 3D model is reconstructed. The same approach is implemented for the creation of the painted room which the viewer can enter through a head-mounted display. In addition, I generate an image interference in the virtual space with a deliberately built-inglitch (error in data transmission), which makes the cyber world even more interesting for the viewer.

Game view, Beyond the Canvas - legacy, 2015, Tonio Mundry

Exhibition view, Beyond the Canvas - legacy, 2015, Tonio Mundry

Exhibition view, Beyond the Canvas - legacy, 2015, Tonio Mundry

Exhibition view, Beyond the Canvas - legacy,2015, Tonio Mundry