Tyler Bohm

Reclamation Project

Reclamation Project includes selected works by new media artist Tyler Bohm. The exhibition features videos that explore hallucinatory transitions between natural and built environments with the use of AI-generated imagery. Lush speculative landscapes accompanied by naturalistic soundscapes reveal a dystopian future fueled by rapid technological change that trouble perceptions of progression and regression.

“My work probes the effects of contemporary technologies on how we view ourselves and the world around us, exploring the nature of perception in the digital age. It explores themes such as technophilia and technophobia and the warped sense of normalcy that arises in the face of rapid technological change.” — Tyler Bohm

Tyler Bohm is a new media artist who spent several years working in the architectural industry, where he adopted the tools and techniques of digital and physical modeling to create digitally-inspired sculptural, video and hybrid works. The resulting process, which involves traditional approaches such as painting mediated through a range of design technologies, is reflective of the technological themes explored in the work. Bohm has participated in exhibitions at Cue Art Foundation (NYC), Equity Gallery (NYC), Museum of Science (Boston), Boston Cyberarts Gallery, FILE Festival (Sao Paulo), Trestle Gallery (Brooklyn) and others. He lives and works in San Diego, CA.

Reclamation Project No. 1, 2022, video with AI-generated imagery

Reclamation Project No. 2, 2022, video with AI-generated imagery

Reclamation Project No. 3, 2022, video with AI-generated imagery

Artist’s Statement About the Work

The technologies that shape our lives represent an intriguing platform for speculation. They evoke an array of hypothetical futures drawn from both the dystopian and utopian ends of science fiction. I explore this evolving technological landscape by imagining futurist scenarios that reflect broader hopes and fears about the present.

These video works explore the gradual transition of urban environments to a natural state. Using the cities of Pittsburgh, Miami and San Diego as templates, the works use AI-generated imagery to approximate the natural environment that has existed and will exist in these regions before and after human settlement. The end result, a lush habitat underscored by naturalistic scores, can be interpreted as a reversion or a progression, moving either backwards through time to an earlier era or forwards through a climatic upheaval that results in nature reclaiming the city.

— Tyler Bohm