I FIGURES IN FLIGHT (AND FALLING)

2.5D RESIN PRINTS ON PAPER

The digital processes that Van Eyssen employed in Encounter have been expanded on for his series of large luxe prints, Figures In Flight (and Falling), based on the underlying structure of the work. Van Eyssen found that, by stripping away the surfaces of cars and figures to reveal a reddish orange wireframe, new imagery emerged which interested him aesthetically. He has worked with specialist printers to create works on paper that have a raised surface (the red/orange lattice), transforming the two dimensional image into a relief which he denotes as 2.5D. These prints are in a way sculptural works similar to Encounter. They push the boundaries of what sculpture is or can be, and the prints also give an insight into the complex way that the augmented reality work was brought into being.

Most visitors will be confounded by the experience. They might have seen a virtual reality (VR) or : work in the past, but nothing on this scale, complexity or ability to shadow reality. The crash is visceral and hits you hard as the metal that crumples before your eyes. The flying glass looks sharp enough to cut you, and you have to duck around the work to completely see and understand how it works in the room. It is very easy to suspend disbelief and walk around the empty gallery as if it were the scene of a violent accident. The suspended embrace is touching, and for a digital work it is amazingly human and humane.

— Dr. Michael Petry (taken from the catalogue essay to the exhibition at MOCA London)

Figures In Flight (and Falling) are available at: www.artplay.com/encounter