Thukral and Tagra
'Arboretum'
“If a tree falls in the Metaverse, does it make a noise?” Posing this question in their ongoing project Arboretum, artist collaborators Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra contemplate the intersection of the digital and natural worlds. The series was sparked by the global isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent escalation of virtual mediation between people and their physical world. Amassing a collection of digital images of flora in their immediate environment, the artists used select photos as the basis for hyperrealistic paintings on shaped canvases. The resulting works resist the instant gratification of digital technology, favoring hands-on, labor-intensive techniques that require months to complete. By incorporating analog representations of pixels and glitches, the artists remind the viewer of the inescapable intervention of data and algorithms that inform our daily choices and the ways we see and interpret the world.
“If a tree falls in the Metaverse, does it make a noise?” Posing this question in their ongoing project Arboretum, artist collaborators Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra contemplate the intersection of the digital and natural worlds. The series was sparked by the global isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent escalation of virtual mediation between people and their physical world. Amassing a collection of digital images of flora in their immediate environment, the artists used select photos as the basis for hyperrealistic paintings on shaped canvases. The resulting works resist the instant gratification of digital technology, favoring hands-on, labor-intensive techniques that require months to complete. By incorporating analog representations of pixels and glitches, the artists remind the viewer of the inescapable intervention of data and algorithms that inform our daily choices and the ways we see and interpret the world.
About the artist
Jiten Thukral (b. 1976, Jalandhar, Punjab, India) and Sumir Tagra (b. 1979, New Delhi, India) work collaboratively across a wide range of mediums including painting, sculpture, installation, interactive game design, video, and performance. Expanding the scope of what art can do, their multimodal sensory and immersive environments originate new formats of public engagement liberated from the mediated, disciplinary world. Their recent work engages with the interpretation of Indian mythological narratives and symbols and the ongoing social ramifications of the agrarian crisis throughout India. Thukral and Tagra have exhibited internationally at institutions including the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, London; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart, Germany; Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore; Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Manchester Museum, U.K.; and Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, among many others.
Programs and events
Artist talk: Thukral and Tagra
Join SCAD Museum of Art exhibiting artists Thukral and Tagra for a talk exploring their newly opened exhibition. The duo will speak to the use of dynamic imagery in their collective practice, which encompasses painting, installation, and digital drawing.
Reception: SCAD Museum of Art fall exhibitions opening
Join the SCAD Museum of Art in celebration of new exhibitions opening in the fall.
Credits
Arboretum is organized by SCAD Museum of Art curator Ben Tollefson.
