Ida Kvetny

Ida Kvetny

HERMES, 2022 - 𐀁𐀔𐁀

AR sculptures and XR film project based on SMK Opens' 3D digital archive.

Duration: 6:30 min (loop)

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The co-existence and the balance between digital and physical objects often feel forced, with one or the other seemingly unnatural in the habits in which it might be placed. Somehow these objects seem disconnected, almost as if they infringe on the opposite. Ida Kvetny’s approach, however, balances this tight rope with ease, creating a harmonious existence of both physical and digital objects in a practice that seems to extend the digital beyond its natural reach - the screen. With an expanded digital practice, Kvetny’s physical paintings and clay sculptures find a natural existence and space in her surreal VR settings.

 

In her piece HERMES, which is included in CryptoPong, the surreal narrative has a surprisingly grounded feeling when knowing that Kvetny has physically crafted and created some of the objects in the video, only to scan them and add them into the narrative. One of her paintings has also become the skin on one of the dancing avatars “Apollo's Torso Hybrid” which is present in the video. Her craftsmanship starts outside the screen, only to be translated and built upon or changed once transferred into the digital.

 

For her AR sculpture, however, the craftsmanship is made into something digital, only to be brought into the physical world again. Again, something purely digital becomes surprisingly grounded through the simplicity of bringing it outside.

 

In the context of  the subject of the exhibition, such as NFTs, blockchain technology, web3 and the metaverse, Kvetny’s surreal narratives lend themselves naturally. HERMES might be considered a glimpse into one of the many metaverses out there. It is, as if, she has built her own realities and worlds, in which she invites the viewer to partake in, and extend into the real world.

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Text by curator and art strategist Stina Gustafsson

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