Raul Altosaar
Liquefied Realities, (2017)
Liquefied Realities is a huge virtual environment made out of a number of digital reconstructions of real-world locations in and around Toronto. At the moment of capture, these locations were all in the process of being either demolished or rapidly developed. I visited these in-between spaces and captured them using a process called photogrammetry, which converts hundreds of still images into 3D models. Most virtual environments aim for hyper-realism. These environments are mathematically composed and rigidly optimized for good performance: straight lines, well-delineated surfaces and “realistic” lighting abound. Suffice to say, our experience of the real world is vastly messier, more irregular and sketchier than these seemingly perfect spaces. In Liquefied Realities I drew a tenuous connection between human depth perception and the computer vision algorithms responsible for reconstructing depth from my photographs. Essentially, I relinquished creative agency to my algorithmic companions who helped me “see” these spaces and work towards a virtual environment that is potentially more connected to our embodied experience of reality.
