The final work for the Unit 1 show was primarily about manifesting the translation of physical objects to digital objects, and then back again. Taking the cycladic figures used in the Amalgamation pieces out of the virtual space was simple using 3D printing. However, the decision to actualise them physically through my own creation was puzzling at first. Keeping to the concept of combining separate entities to create a new, unique one, I chose to amalgamate materials. Experimenting with combining cardboard, fabric, paint and plastic was fruitless, not allowing for the sense of an amalgamated expression.

I chose to recreate the cycladic figurines using clay and PLA, the standard 3D printing filament, drawn from a 3D pen. The primitive yet playful notion of the Amalgamation work was best suited to creating a faux terrain, and so false grass, leaves, stones and moss were scattered to represent the savannah and other primeval human habitats.

To follow the post internet aspect of the previous work and to take it further, I decided to engage directly with AI, something that I had been avoiding due to it often resulting in gimmick works. Using the Unity Game engine, I animated running figures- the Venus of Willendorf, an edited, clothed version of the cycladic figurines, as well as a faceless, featureless low polygon model, and used Navigation AI scripting to have them run in formation across an abstracted landscape. I experimented with using more dynamic means of engagement with the work, and considered allowing the audience control over the camera and interaction with the figures but decided that this was not yet resolved enough for display, and chose simply to link the two scenes by placing the phone at the edge of the plinth, having all figures pointed in the direction of progress.

I see this as a turning point- Having delved into prehistory as well as engaging with it physically and virtually I now feel ready to move forwards into the next phase of my practice and research.