• NONI BRYNJOLSON "Virtual Explorations of the Sublime" •

 

At a time when such an incredible amount of data, statistical information, charts, graphs and models can regulate and monitor the natural world, sublime experiences seem limited, if even possible. From time to time, events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions remind us of our smallness in the world. For many people, a more common first experience approaching the sublime might be flying over a mountain range. Somewhere between the terror of such vast, overwhelming spaces and the sheer sense of awe and beauty they inspire in us, our senses become confounded.

In Virtually There, works by Andreas Rutkauskas illuminate a split between the aesthetics of the sublime, and the visual imaging technologies which attempt to simulate and rationalize it. Included are several photographic images of the Rocky Mountains, created using Google Earth. The artist is physically absent from these works, which gives them a feeling of disembodied remoteness. Google Earth images are composed from satellite and aerial photography, and so the viewpoint of the photographs is from a very lofty perspective, as in the piece N 51° 20' 54" W 116° 12' 26". The ability to access such views over the internet allows one to explore the world without any of the physical discomforts or risks that explorers once faced. Moments in real time and space are captured photographically and turned into scenes which are video-game-like in their simulation of the natural world.

The virtual presence brought up by the exhibition title suggests the long history of virtual reality in art. From cave paintings to cathedral ceilings to renaissance paintings to cinema, artists have used strategies of illusion and immersion in their exploration of images. Art historian Oliver Grau has even suggested that “virtual reality forms part of the core of the relationship of humans to images.” 1 Other artists have used these elements in expressing the sublime. Albert Bierstadt, a 19th century American painter, used huge canvases which overwhelmed viewers. Mountains were a common feature in his paintings, as they symbolized the supposedly wild and untamed frontier. Many of his contemporaries were involved in panoramic painting, a popular phenomenon. Viewers of these panoramas would be surrounded by a painted scene, thereby embodying a panoptic position. Many of the artists involved in this work were inspired by European romanticism, especially the work of German painter Caspar David Friedrich.

Mountains are a classic example of sublime nature, and countless artists throughout history (including Friedrich) have represented their power and beauty. This history is intriguing when considering Rutkauskas’ use of Google Earth imagery. By composing these images of mountains, he makes aesthetic decisions that reflect both his own taste, and the constraints of the remote photography which originally captured the image. Bierstadt adjusted the colour and saturation of his paintings, and this enhancement process continues in digital photography. The photographs that Rutkauskas has composed portray picturesque examples of the region, in terms of weather, light and colouring. An example of this is the uniform band of blue sky in the three photographs titled N 45° 28' 34" W 73° 37' 18". Translated into digital images, the scenes become even more idealized as pixels replace earth, trees, water and sky. The viewpoint suggested by the photographs brings to mind Ralph Waldo Emerson’s reflection on the transcendence provided by the sublime perspective: “I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all.” 2

Emerson’s quote captures the sense of presence despite physical absence that defines virtual reality, and which is seen in Rutkauskas’ creative use of Google Earth. As a counterpoint to the visual pleasure afforded by the photographs, the artist has included several stark prints which represent real, physical journeys through the mountains. These track drawings were created by compiling hundreds of GPS coordinates. An artist book presents this un-aesthetic visual information, which has the effect of deconstructing the photographs and exposing the monotonous matrix of data behind the spectacle. Rutkauskas’ two videos depict customized tours taken on Google Earth, which also simulate actual journeys through the mountains pictured. The drawings, videos and artist book emphasize the conceptual underpinnings of this body of work. They represent the movement of the body through time and space, something which is suspended in the digital photographs.

Viewed together, we witness an exploration of the sublime aspects of mountains, seen through the lens of appropriated photographic sources. What comes out of this creative use of new media is a reconsideration of the relationship between presence and absence, physicality and virtuality.

Notes:

1 Oliver Grau, “Introduction,” Virtual Art: From Illusion to Immersion (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003): 5.

2 Emerson, “Nature,” (1836) The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Charlottesville: InteLex Co., 2008): 10.