Xpainting

Building on initial research conducted in 2023-24, Xpainting by Will Bauer and Jesse Thomas is a meditation on reality and its quantum underpinnings. It reflects on the mutual responsiveness and affect between humans and nature, as well as how the North Saskatchewan River valley bears the imprint of climate change and human impact.

Humans enjoy looking at nature, but we seldom think about nature looking back at us, or about how all living creatures interactively shape one another within our Gaiian world.

Xpainting encourages the audience to contemplate how their actions affect the natural world. Visual elements are controlled by sensors that map the human figure, tracking points of articulation and triggering responses in the gallery environment: a swell of light, a shift in hue, pulsing visual rhythms, the slow arrival of somber shadows, or a change in time of day. This interactivity gives audiences authorship in their experience, deepening their sense of presence and participation.