Jukai / Sea of Trees (2018)
James Clar is an American visual artist who uses technology as a medium to critique the dissociative affects of technology itself.
James Clar, media art, lighting art, light art, pop art, interactive art, led art, minimal, installation, 3d cube, jamesclar, light and space, new media, American visual artist, medium, dissociative, disruptive technology, technology
17047
portfolio_page-template-default,single,single-portfolio_page,postid-17047,bridge-core-2.4.9,qodef-qi--no-touch,qi-addons-for-elementor-1.6.3,qode-page-transition-enabled,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,qode-title-hidden,qode-theme-ver-28.8,qode-theme-bridge,disabled_footer_top,qode_header_in_grid,elementor-default,elementor-kit-17203
Category
Work

Jukai / Sea of Trees

(2018)
4 Minute Seamless Video Loop
Dimensions Variable

Video recorded at Aokigahara, aka Suicide Forest or Jukai “the Sea of Trees”, a dense forest in Japan near Mount Fuji that has been historically a place where people have decided to end their lives. They go there and meditate, sometimes for weeks, and contemplate a post-physical existence. The forest is an in-between space between the real (physical) and spiritual (non-physical).

Together with a colleague we recorded various shots walking through the forest while wearing an orange suit. The full body suit was used so the person could be erased later, frame by frame, using Photoshop’s Content Aware feature that tries to fill in deleted areas of an image using the software algorithms.

The Photoshop filter doesn’t work perfectly, and each frame is analyzed individually, creating the effect of a digital specter or ghost roaming around. The work is a reference to “Erased DeKooning Drawing” and our current lose of physical presence as we transfer more of ourselves online. It represents the mental state or non-physical presence of the professional videogamers within the installation Beyond The Uncanny Valley.

Exhibited:
“The World Never Ends” at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York