“Solid State Parhelia” is a 3D computer graphic generated and drawn in real-time by a program. The subject is a still life but the artist claims that it is an “extended painting that is not viable without moving constantly.” In this work, the numerical value corresponding to the depth of the subject observed from a certain angle (camera) is replaced with the depth of the pixels that make up the depicted two-dimensional surface. This creates a situation where the pixels are distributed particle-like toward the depth of the pictorial space. Furthermore, several new viewpoints (cameras) were set up to encircle the subject, and switching from one camera to another generated the image shown here.

The subject of the image is inspired by a vanitas, a type of allegorical still life paintings representing the emptiness of life; such pictures were made in great numbers in Flanders and the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries. Common vanitas motifs include objects suggesting death and other human fates, such as skulls and decaying fruit, which were combined to convey the transience of vanity. The artist’s personal narrative is also incorporated into “Solid State Parhelia” by the inclusion among depicted objects of the artist’s own skull and musical instruments, which were created using capture technology.

“Defragment of Field” is a still image generated by filing the voids that appear between the distributed pixels.

Cooperation in production of “Solid State Parhelia”: NOGAMI Daisuke