Stephanie Syjuco
Composite Bamboo Forest
2004
paper, cardboard, mixed media, approximately 7' high, dimensions variable
Using low resolution jpg images downloaded from the internet, I distorted images of bamboo so they created wrappers for cardboard tubes. A simple image search revealed numerous different depictions of bamboo: forests, individual plants, close-up images, and a range of textures. The resulting "composite forest" is a physical manifestation of bamboo as it exists online and, essentially, in the public imagination. The stretched and distorted images create what look like a warping of space, with the digital quality of the low-resolution images becoming enhanced and abstracted.
This work is part of a larger series in which I am "searching for the Phillipines"--my place of birth, and from which I am culturally removed from--and attempting to find it via the internet and at a distance.