Virtual Shadows
Andrew Wharton
October - 2021
Virtual Shadows deals with objecthood as it relates to computer vision and virtual
experience. How does an object's virtual impression relate to the original, and what is
lost in an object’s simulation?
A rock and a log have been carefully digitized and recreated, a process that
reconsiders these ancient tools within the language of contemporary technology. The
exhibition features these two originals alongside their 3D printed ‘shadows’. Images are
also presented, revealing the sites these objects were extracted from. This extraction
occurred both literally, and digitally, through the process of photogrammetry. Large
prints offer insight into a computer's understanding of these objects, mapping the 3D
objects within flat space. Digitally rendered prints display simulated sculptures
developed using virtual objects, mass producing copies of unique natural objects.
Andrew Wharton is an artist living and working in Southern California. His work
explores the intersection between technological systems and the natural world. His work
creates spaces where the synthetic and organic blend into one, envisioning a condition
where industrial and organic realities are harmonized to produce a third state.
This third state allows for speculation into the blending of virtual reality and the
real world, prefiguring a world in which they have merged. This world allows discussion
of non-human perception and post-human futures, rendering a view of the future where
the dual possibilities of catastrophe and utopia coexist. A world where nature has
synchronized with it’s technological reflection.



