DOYOUSEEPATTERNS  

A ONE-WEEK RESIDENCY IN LA GRAND MAISON ROUGE LOCATED IN LA CERDANYA, RIGHT ON THE BORDER BETWEEN SPAIN AND FRANCE. THIS WAS NOT A COINCIDENCE SINCE THE TOPIC OF THE EXPLORATION WAS ABOUT MARGINS, AND THE WAY THEY INTERACT BOTH AS A SPACE TO DIVIDE AND CONNECT.

DURING THE WEEK, WE WERE GUIDED BY MERCÈ RUA, DIRECTOR OF THE MAISON, OUR LECTURER THOMAS DUGGAN, AND LOCALS WHO INTRODUCED US TO ARTISANAL TECHNIQUES.

THE "BORDER" WE SELECTED TO INQUIRE DURING THE WEEK WAS THE ONE BETWEEN DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL, VIRTUAL AND ANALOG. WE KEPT PLAYING AND OSCILLATING BETWEEN THESE TWO DIMENSIONS, SWITCHING FROM ONE TO THE OTHER AND TRYING TO EXPLORE WHAT HAPPENS IN BETWEEN.

IN THE INITIAL DAYS, WE GATHERED SMALL NATURAL SAMPLES LIKE ROCKS, ROTTING WOOD, DRY MOSS, AND DEAD LEAVES TO EXAMINE THEM MORE CLOSELY. ONE METHOD WE USED TO DIVE INTO THEIR PATTERNS AND TEXTURES WAS 3D SCANNING, WHICH UNVEILED WHAT WE

COULD ONLY PERCEIVE BEFORE: THE SAMPLES ROTATED ON A PLATFORM WHILE THE SENSOR CAPTURED THEIR GEOMETRIES, CREATING VIRTUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THEM. THIS TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION PROCESS BY THE MACHINE, WHICH RECONSTRUCTED THE OBJECTS’ GEOMETRY, REMINDED US OF THE BEHAVIOR OF THE MOSS ITSELF. ON THE SCREEN, WE WITNESSED THE 3D MODELS PROGRESSIVELY TAKING ON THE SHAPE OF THE ORIGINAL SAMPLES.

ONCE WE HAD COLLECTED A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF SCANS, WE ASKED OURSELVES: WHAT HAPPENS IF WE INSERT THE DIGITAL BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL AND THE ANALOG (PHYSICAL → DIGITAL → ANALOG)? IS THERE A WAY TO MATERIALLY REPRESENT THE RESULTS WE OBTAINED THROUGH THIS DIGITAL PROCESS?

WITH A DARKROOM FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT AVAILABLE AT LA MAISON, WE DECIDED TO EXPERIMENT: COULD WE IMPRESS THESE TEXTURES ONTO PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER?

USING A PROJECTOR TO DISPLAY OUR PROCESSED TEXTURES, RENDERED AS 3D MESHES OR POINT CLOUDS, WE QUICKLY POSITIONED PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER IN FRONT OF IT.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE POSSIBLE, WE SUCCESSFULLY TRANSLATED A VIRTUAL TEXTURE IN AN ANALOG MEDIUM! 

SINCE THIS DISCOVERY WAS SO EXCITING, WE DECIDED TO GO FURTHER AND USED AN OLD ANALOG CAMERA TO PHOTOGRAPH THESE PROJECTIONS OVERLAID ON THE ORIGINAL SAMPLES, BLENDING THE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL GEOMETRIES SO SEAMLESSLY THAT THEY BECAME INDISTINGUISHABLE. THIS WAS ALSO A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO EXPERIMENT WITH TRADITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE DARKROOM.

WE SELECTED THE MAISON ROUGE'S BOILER ROOM TO DISPLAY OUR PROJECT FOR THE FINAL EXPOSITION. THIS SPACE WAS WHERE THE PROJECT WAS BORN, AND ITS INHERENT DARKNESS AND ISOLATION FROM THE REST OF THE BUILDING CREATED A MYSTICAL ATMOSPHERE.

THE EXHIBITION FEATURED OUR PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS, A COMPOSITION OF COLLECTED SAMPLES, OUR “DIGITAL MOSS” SHORT FILM, A SERIES OF IMAGES DOCUMENTING THE PROCESS, AND AN INTERACTIVE AREA WHERE VISITORS COULD EXPERIMENT WITH DIGITAL TEXTURES ON PHYSICAL SAMPLES.

AN ABANDONED FRIDGE IN THE BOILER ROOM TURNED OUT TO BE THE PERFECT SPACE TO DISPLAY OUR PROJECT, AS THE LIGHT WAS CAPTURED INSIDE ITS CHAMBER AND CREATED A NEW TRIDIMENSIONAL SHAPE.