360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting

360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting explores the intricate ways in which digital technologies shape our perception of the natural landscape, as well as how we engage with various portrayals of the natural world through digital devices. At the center of this exploration lies a landscape painting - a synthesis of an imaginary landscape and a 3D scan of a physical terrain. The painting can be experienced in multiple digital settings, each unveiling its distinctive characteristics as well as its limitations. The work currently manifests in three forms: an interactive browser-based experience, a virtual reality environment, and a video that provides insights into its creation, serving as a visual description of its origin and materiality.

Highlighting differences through repetition underscores the central theme: evolving perceptions within diverse digital environments. This exploration delves into the process of shaping experiences through multiple interactions with objects, examining how the context of an encounter influences interpretation. The recurring experience of the painting across these settings highlights the unique attributes of each environment, which are mirrored by the painting itself. Whether through the individual engagement of a desktop web browser or the immersive scale of a virtual reality environment, each form provides a distinct perspective.

The work also contemplates the influence of digital technology on the realm of painting and how our interactions with digital objects reshape established conventions concerning our engagement with artistic objects in the physical world.

360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting is an interactive landscape painting in which the image displayed on canvas is dependent on the viewer’s position. The work contemplates how digital technology can influence concepts associated with landscape painting by distorting representation patterns such as those related to “framing the view”. Capturing a specific view of a landscape can be a dynamic and interactive experience.

The experience draws on a video providing a glimpse into the painting’s creation process. A particular frame from the video was selected and transformed into an interactive 3D digital object. Using the mouse or their hands in the virtual reality version, the viewers are able to move fragments of canvas to explore the missing perspectives from the view that extends beyond the canvas’s boundary, while continuously changing the painting’s composition.

sound by Mihai Dumitrașcu

View in browser:

360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting

*360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting is an interactive web application designed for desktop web browsers and does not function on mobile/tablet. If accessing from a PC/laptop, click on the link above to view the work. Google Chrome is recommended.

Download the VR version from Sidequest:

360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting

*360° Stereoscopic Landscape Painting can be installed on Meta Quest 2 via SideQuest. Please use the link above to view and download the application.

The project was exhibited in Desktop Studies, curated and organized by Spam-Index for the 6th edition of The Wrong Biennale (2023). It was presented online as an interactive web experience and as a digital painting installation in New Art City as part of Desktop Studies online group show, and the virtual reality version was shown IRL at CAV Gallery in Bucharest and MAFA x READY MEDIA festival at the Museum of Art in Arad, Romania.