Ryan Koopmans & Alice Wexell

Sweden

Ryan Koopmans (BA, MFA) is a lens-based artist specializing in reviving abandoned architecture through digital techniques. Partnering with his wife, Swedish artist Alice Wexell, they create captivating digital artworks. Their celebrated project, "The Wild Within," debuted in 2021 and has been collected and exhibited worldwide. The Wild Within is a series of digital artworks that bring new life into abandoned buildings from a bygone era. ​ Based on real-world physical spaces, an animated rebirth into a digital realm is created. ​ Ryan Koopmans & his partner Alice Wexell visited different locations around the world over several years, exploring ruins and photographing structures that have undergone dramatic transition. ​ Upon returning, they digitally introduced vegetation, modified the structure and lighting, and animated the scenes with the intention of reviving the empty spaces, essentially bringing life back into the rooms. ​​ The results are a surreal collision between the past and future, natural and manmade, physical and digital, and the real and imaginary.​ The aim of the artwork is to create a sense of surreal tranquility whilst referencing the themes of architectural history, urban exploration, and the resurgence of nature. ​ Many of the buildings depicted in The Wild Within have been demolished in recent years, further emphasizing the theme of time passing in the cycle of growth and decay.

Koopmans, of Canadian-Dutch heritage, explores the built environment's impact on societies. Wexell, with a particular interest in 3D art and photography, co-creates surreal environments using new technologies. 


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Devotion

Devotion_Ryan_Koopmans__Alice_Wexell_3D.mp4

‘Devotion' is a piece from the genesis project ‘The Wild Within’ by Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell. This series brings new life into abandoned buildings from a bygone Soviet era. Based on real-world physical spaces, an animated rebirth into a digital realm has been created.

During the Soviet Union, the Georgian town of Tskaltubo was a popular health destination famed for its therapeutic water and luxurious sanatoriums. Between the 1940’s to 1980’s thousands of people visited, including Stalin and his high-ranking officials from Moscow. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the buildings were deserted and fell into disrepair. Since the early 90's, they have been slowly dismantled and stripped of their valuable materials, leaving empty shells of what were once grandiose classical structures. Koopmans visited this region over several years, exploring the ruins and photographing the spaces. Upon returning, in collaboration with Alice Wexell, they digitally introduced vegetation, manipulated the lighting and structure, added sound by Erik Thome, and animated the scenes with the intention of reviving the empty spaces, essentially bringing life back into the rooms.

The results are a surreal collision between the past and future, as well as the physical and digital worlds. Some of the buildings depicted in this project have been demolished in recent months, further emphasizing the theme of time passing in the cycle of growth and decay.

technique

3d

format

landscape

duration

00:20

year

2021

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