Claire de Lune. 2022
This work is based on the question of the extent to which atmospheric landscape images can be created with digital image processes that do not attempt to imitate a photographic representation, but - analogous to painting - are able to develop their own visual language with their own specific means.
The starting point for the work was a 3D model of a prayer plant whose leaves have the property of curling up at night and standing up like praying hands. Recording this movement, Schaerer copied the leaves of the digital plant several times, scaled them, rotated them and arranged them spatially in a 3D scene. Instead of photo-realistic image textures, he used a bluish light source to illuminate the surfaces in a symbolic manner. The composition, calculated entirely on the computer without the aid of photographic data, creates a dreamlike floating atmosphere. Its effect is supported not least by the references to the history of art and literature (Blue Flower of Romanticism) or to music history (Impressionist tone painting by Debussy) opened up by the title "Claire de Lune" (Moonlight).
Images & Captions
Title: Composition No. 1
Technique: Computer Rendering
Year: 2022
Detail: Composition No. 1
Technique: Computer Rendering
Year: 2022
Print & Framing: Composition No. 1
C-Print, 1280 x 980 mm
Year: 2022
Installation View: Composition No. 1
C-Print, 1280 x 980 mm
Date: October 2022
Writings & Reviews
Arnold, M. (2022, October). Philipp Schaerer [On the occasion of the exhibition Dissected Nature - Philipp Schaerer]. In: Schweizer Kunstverein (Ed.), Kunstbulletin 10/2022, Zurich, S. 75. > PDF (German)