The Swiss artist Pipilotti – a name the artist derived from a cartoon heroine Pipi Longstockings and the artist’s childhood nickname Lotti – exhibited her work Pixel Forest at the MFAH over the summer. This exhibit was in part in response to last summer’s Kisame exhibit which was billed as “social media worthy”. Themes that emerge in Pipilotti’s work are how technology shapes our environment, the body’s connection to nature, and her focus on childhood states. I went to experience the Pixel Forest with my mother. After the intial awe we began to realize that the display was something derived from Inside Out or Honey I Shrunk the Kids – the viewer experiences the world from inside the body of another entity. The inward/ outward perspective of Pipilotti’s Pixel Forest draws the viewer into the natural environment being viewed through this entity’s eyes. This inside/outside aspect separates Pixel Forest from Kisame’s installation. Where in Kisame one feels personally emmersed in an amusing sometime chaotic environment, Pixel Forest separates the viewer into a third party peering into the life of another. This worry free happy individual whose life the viewer see harkens back to the evanescence of a sublime childhood experience.
I had a joy creating a studio project for Pixel Forest. I focused this artmaking project on the inward/outward experience of the exhibit through a Diorama. Participants will reconnect with their childhood through the creation of miniature environments that bring them back to the liminal joys of a worry free youth.