Artists Statement

Conglomerate Distortions is a series of immersive, stereoscopic animations that cleave parallel experiences of heightened spectacle to displace geographic location and site through the use of omnidirectional photography and sound. The works explore how we recalibrate ourselves to global conglomeration and how the notion of “immediate surroundings” is changing in the age of augmented reality. Phased rotation is used as a formal element in order to convey the recombinant nature of Cultural Revolution. For each instance of the series, the artists visit a range of tourist spectacles in different locations and within a compressed timeframe. Throughout this process, they document their experiences using omnidirectional cameras. Omnidirectional photography is used because, photographing in all directions at once, it provides an approximation of “immediate surroundings,” displacing the conventional “framing” of a scene and including visual information outside of the artists’ selective views. The project has thus far focused on sites in Asia: Osaka, Tateyama, Taipei and Hong Kong. These places thrive through reinvention: as one means of existence reaches its completion, a new one is improvised in its place. The completed “conglomerations” use CG Animation techniques and stereoscopic 3D projection, producing a dizzying reproduction of the artists’ practice of hypertourism.

• Sala Wong, Indiana State University, USA
• Peter Williams, California State University Sacramento, USA