The Paperman is part of the International Free Expression Project. The image is much more than just a photograph. It is a history unraveled through the use of technology. I was asked to document the closing of the historic Pittsburgh Post Gazette Press Room. I decided to take the project further and merge the beginning and the end. The physical composite was created using photographs of PPG press workers from the 1950's and my images of the now closed facilities on the blvd of the Allies. When looking at the image with the app, The Paperman leaves the image and he appears in our 3D space controlling and rebuilding his work station around the viewer. A supernatural personification of the men and women who poured their life into the building of the American newspaper and have now become the heart of the mechanism. It is clear to see that his spirit has lived on, eerily returning to his post nearly seven decades later.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the announcement that the 2020 Pittsburgh Visual Art Exhibition would now be held virtually, I realized that people would not be able to experience the Augmented Reality in the exhibition space. It was my intention to have people experience this complex AR environment firsthand, each part of this historic machine rebuilt piece by piece surrounding the viewer. With this no longer being possible, I decided to create a 3D version of an environment similar to the space where the exhibition was to be held. Through the creation of the virtual space and video presentation, the viewer can see what the AR experience would have looked like if they were physically there and unlimited space was supplied. The creation of the digital space and forced interaction says a lot about what art looks like in isolation. We do not only have to create the content but the environment it was meant to be viewed in. Adding yet another layer of false reality.