Arcadia Inc. is a work of speculative fiction which investigates the commodification of nature through computer-generated landscape photography. In observing context erasure as the main mechanism behind re-programming images with new meanings, the work proposes a new model for obtaining the type of nature imagery meant for brand-based visual communication: a group of virtual beings which photograph scenic beauty in a real-time simulation, organized as a fictional company which produces stock images of natural environments. In an era when visual culture is created increasingly through technological automation, the work raises important questions about the future of image making.
The simulated component of the work, arcadia.exe, presents an expansive, bucolic digital landscape in which a group of three humanoid agents - Ansel A.I., Claudia L., and Ralph W.E. - walk on mathematically determined paths informed by historical tropes; for example, Ansel A.I. is programmed to always walk West, while Claudia L. is programmed to photograph nature from above. The three agents take photographs of their surroundings at significant moments of their journeys. Subsequently, the images are uploaded in real time to the company’s website, becoming Arcadia Inc.’s core offering.
The Arcadia Inc: IPO series marks the company’s first public sale of images. Six of the photographs produced by Ansel A.I., Claudia L. and Ralph W.E. between 2022 and 2024 are presented in conjunction with videos revealing the moment of their creation. Each of the six photograph-video pairings are accompanied by a Synthetic Landscape Asset Partnership Agreement, a legal document which ensures the strategic alignment between the company and the future owners of its images.
You can visit the Arcadia Inc. website at arcadia.photography, or view an ambient slideshow of its most recent photographs on Arcadia 𝓝𝓸𝔀.
Arcadia Inc: IPO, 2021/2025
Each Arcadia Inc: IPO consists of three digital components:
Arcadia Inc: IPO (Asset), png,
Arcadia Inc: IPO (Provenance), mp4 video,
Arcadia Inc: IPO (Agreement), jpg,
as well as a framed print of Arcadia Inc: IPO (Asset), 21 x 28 cm
On secondary market sales the previous owner must transfer all three digital assets and ship the physical piece, with shipping expenses to be covered by the new collector.