Hyperrhiz 27
Gare de Vector3
Mitchell Palczewski
Citation: Palczewski, Mitchell. “Gare de Vector3.” Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, no. 27, 2024. doi:10.20415/hyp/027.a11
Abstract: Gare de Vector3 constructs a memory as 3D space and contemplates how objects can be embedded with a spirit. The project collages physical and non-physical materials documented by the artist to assemble a particular memory. Materials are arranged with their relationships in mind to build a structure of context, where meaning is amplified by the sum of its parts. The work invites you to step into the artist's shoes and participate in an exploration of space, accessing and sharing the spirit of the artist. The interpretation of the physical space is left undefined to be felt and contemplated by the user.
Keywords: Gare de XYZ, Memory, Spirit, Architecture, Digital Collage, Embedding.
Instructions for navigation: best viewed on desktop, using Chrome browser. Use the WASD keys to navigate, and the mouse to point direction/look around.
Artist Statement
While backpacking through Europe, I made a mission of capturing my travels through photos, sketches, and notes. Through the act of making the experience ingrained in my memory and person. Without much thought or contemplation, I pursued the world in its totality and stumbled into the work of an artist. The created material documents an artistic awakening and became a touchstone to the self.
Gare de Vector3 is a series of environments built from this scattering of documentation. Materials are weaved together to build a structure of context, where each material enhances the meaning of all others. Elements are arranged in a 3D digital world to form architectural space. Utilizing the prompt ‘blanket forts', these spaces are inhabited by the artist’s memories and built from found materials. Gare de Vector3 does not intend on capturing the physical world. The project instead collages physical and non-physical materials to assemble the artist’s memory and imbed a structure with the artist’s spirit. In this art piece, agents can traverse and interact with the digital environment. The work invites you to step into the artist's shoes and participate in an exploration of space, accessing and sharing the spirit of the artist. The interpretation of the physical space is left undefined to be felt and contemplated.
Memory is often observed as fragments strung together with our imagination to create something more coherent. We place data points in a web and fill in the gaps to reveal a picture of reality, like a set of stars void of meaning joined to represent a constellation. This was the thought process when designing the spaces of Gare de Vector3. Key materials or ideas anchor the spaces and found media fills in the gaps. As each piece of material is added, the information the structure holds grows exponentially because information lies not just in the material but in each of its relationships.
So, what does it mean to create a structure of a memory, and how does that relate to the spirit and the self? Memory is liquid. It is subject to change and influence. A memory does not just capture an event! All that precedes it frames and wraps the memory in context. Nor is a memory static, it is ever bending and distorting, filtered by the events of the present. In this way, memory transcends time to capture the entire self: past, present, and future. To materialize a memory is to embed an object with a spirit. Once materialized, an object imbedded with memory separates from the self and obtains a self of its own. Like a newborn child, it retains attributes of the parent, but its personality diverges as it grows. This spirit can be observed in qualities of the object, its personality, its affect on space, and its interaction with agents.
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