Oberon Onmura's "The Pillars" at Split Screen

The Pillars: Four Moments of Contemplation by Oberon Onmura has opened at Split Screen.  A striking work, it is composed of over 70 needle-like mountains jabbing into the air, mist or smoke rising from their peaks.  Bird-like creatures fly overhead.  It may seem as though that's all there is, but suddenly there are flashes of light, and towers as tall as the mountains appear scattered across the space, mostly straight up but some leaning, as quickly fading away -- like visual echoes of the mountains themselves.  Out of four of the mountains, a platform juts forward, each bearing a bot -- standing about, kneeling, crawling, spinning.  Oberon writes:

This work is an installation which embodies terraforming, complex scripted objects, and bots. A "forest" of vertical mounds is inhabited by four avatars, each enclosed in a unique soundscape and constrained to a single animation. A plain white chair beside each avatar invites the viewer to sit and contemplate each small scene.

Oberon Onmura's The Pillars: Four Moments of Contemplation

(click to enlarge)

Oberon's work often has a minimalist quality with a mesmerizing effect, and Four Pillars is no exception. That sensibility contributes to the work's invitation to contemplate, or simply observe. He has used bots occasionally before; one doesn't ask who they are or what their purpose is -- they don't even seem to be symbols of anything in specific (although one can interpret them that way). They are more like icons of certain feelings, conditions or attitudes. Thus contemplation here is not necessarily about anything, although it can be; but absorbing the tonality of each location is essential.

The recommended windlights are "[TOR] SCIFI - Arrakissed 2" for the sky, and "[TOR] Arrakissed variation" for the water.  If you use Firestorm they should kick in automatically.  If you use another viewer, be sure to set them manually because they are crucial to the look and feel of this work, as you can see in the photos.  Shadows and water reflections are also highly recommended -- use Ultra settings if you can.

The Pillars: Four Moments of Contemplation will be open through October.