{enthalpy}

{enthalpy} is a VR installation.

Born when new media rose, I am living in it, merging with digits. Putting myself in a virtual space and thinking about astrophysics and philosophy was always the method of avoiding traumatic real events or flashbacks. Thinking about something close yet far is both grounding and elevating: how is the Universe created? Why are there always spheres, no matter how deeply you look inside of the structure?

{enthalpy} introduces a viewer to a creative insight into astrophysics and philosophy. It lies in between Kubrick’s metaphorical and conceptual approach in A Space Odyssey and Nolan’s interest in physics during the creation of Interstellar. In {enthalpy} there is no striving to illustrate knowledge, but to transform it through the lens of creativity. In oscillation between abstract and figurative, the geometrical patterns are speculations about physics and repetitions of structures (quantum & particles) and philosophical issues concerning other dimensions that can exist without our understanding of them, as, for instance, Nolan in Interstellar shows fifth and six dimensions for manipulation of time.

It is an outcome of experiments with images (for a 360 degree panno) made in a photobashing technique in Photoshop and Procreate with the use of a tablet: merging together photographs then drawing on top of them, as well as changing their shape, as if they were plasticine. There were rocks, churches (with a particular interest in their massive effect on a viewer and fascinating color palette), nature (tree branches as connections) and a human skull (memento mori theme). All of those selected out of very personal reasons, but the goal was to explore how they can form a space (or rather, suggest an environment) on a flat surface of a sphere.

Credits: everything is created by Emiliya Shcherbak, excluding the sound (The Frontier), which was created by Woodkid but used for adding an immersiveness to the installation.

Enthalpy - this is a measure of chaos in any system. In thermodynamics: a function of the state of a thermodynamic system, that is, it does not depend on the path of the system's transition from one state to another.