ⓘ

Information panels in metal frames and digital sculptures, various locations, 2021 – ongoing. Information panels, print on dibond, mounted on wood, QR codes, webpages, 118 x 71cm.

ⓘ are an ongoing series of information panels, distributing research and artworks related to The Plot, a family-owned terrain in the Netherlands that was devastated by a spruce bark beetle outbreak in 2019. The Plot is central to the research project Summoning a Forest.

The first iterations of ⓘ were installed in the Park Brialmont in the Antwerp district of Berchem in July and August 2021: an open air project in a time when indoor exhibitions were difficult due to pandemic restrictions.

Brialmont park had just been redeveloped, and its five information stands were still unused. They were ready-made frames for the information panels of ⓘ. Instead of providing information on the park, the panels instead cover research on The Plot.

ⓘ function as a bridge between real-world landscape and digital space. Each panel is conceived as a visual interface with QR codes leading to webpages that contain additional information on The Plot and Ips typographus, the spruce bark beetle, or to works such as ‘Aaaargh’ – a videoloop of an avatar having a climate change induced panic attack (see below).

See also Mistakes. The artist talk and The Compositor / Composing.

After the project ended, the panels – including the stands – were reconstructed and archived as virtual 3D models. A physical duplicate of the frame in weathered steel is placed permanently on The Plot, with updated panels being installed regularly.

Above: ⓘ, a digital copy of the Compositor/Composing panel, 2023.