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Dreams have long been a subject of artistic enquiry. Where does our subconscious go during sleep? What do our dreamscapes mean, and can they ever be made into physical spaces? This surreal territory has proved fertile ground for a new generation of contemporary artists working at the intersection of architecture, interior design, and technology. Drawing upon utopian hopes and dystopian fears, the dreamscapes of these creations offer intriguing insight into a new movement in digital art.
The visual motifs common in dreamscapes—opalescent orbs, pink skies, curved doorways, swimming pools—recur across the platform in images of both art and life. The improbable interiors of Alexis Christodoulou recall the work of M. C. Escher— whose staircases you can never climb all the way up— and there is no denying the overarching reference to René Magritte, whose palette and symbolic use of architecture recur throughout this book.
We have never before had such capacity to render the world as we would like it to be, which means 3D modeling software has the potential to be immensely liberating. If, as it does in the dreamscapes of this book, it can free architecture and design from the constraints of reality, then surely it can do the same for other aspects of our life. Are these then visions of dreams, or of a new world entirely?
Materials
Full color, hardcover, stitch bound, 208 pages
Dimensions
8 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.
Image credits: Dreamscapes and Artificial Architecture, 2020