The Terrarium (Octopus), 2022
Watercolour and acrylic on paper, 84.1 × 118.8 cm (framed 97.9 × 132.5 cm)
This series consists of seven new watercolour and acrylic works on paper that reproduce scenes and characters from The Terrarium, Dawood's sci-fi Virtual Reality work set 300 years into the future. These have been reverse-engineered form the space of VR into the more traditional medium of paint on paper.
Crafted by the artist's hand, The Terrarium (Crab), The Terrarium (Dolphin), and The Terrarium (Pike) are all the more unique for a further translation back into the digital: scanning them via Instagram will unlock an Augmented Reality filter - coded through a process involving Artificial Intelligence trained to recognise the artwork's outline - which activates a three-dimensional encounter between the viewer and the characters in the work.
The Terrarium (Boat) is depicting a futuristic travel vessel that connects the deepest zones of our oceans with the furthest reaches of outer space. The Terrarium (Octopus) is showing the tentacular limbs of the part-human, part-cephalopod protagonist in Dawood's VR, journeying through a hybridised, inter-species underwater world.
The Terrarium (Terrarium 2) depicts a scene that hovers between land and sky and sea, and imagines a glass dome from which future hybrid humans are released into their new aquatic environment. The Terrarium (Space) depicts a scene that imagines one possible interstellar finale to a journey connecting our oceans to the furthest reaches of outer space.
Click here to view AR functionality of The Terrarium (Crab).