LYKEN is an attempt to take ownership of my childhood night terrors. I use 3D modelling to reconstruct fragmented memories, then use Extended Reality (XR) as a way to ‘physically’ enter those memories. I can literally move around my imagination in 3D space. By placing memories into the real world and standing in front of them, I experience a form of healing exposure therapy. Working on location, everything is shot in-camera, where natural light, weather, and space merge with digital forms. The lens sees the real and imagined co-existing in real time. See my process: mikesouthmakes.com/lyken
I’m the world’s first photographer to use Extended Reality (XR) as a new Fine Art medium. Blending XR with stills, video, AI-imagery, live projection, and natural landscapes, I add synthetic elements to the real world, in real time… shooting everything in-camera. As XR goes mainstream, digital overlays will reshape our senses. While my work embraces this emerging tech, it also questions how it might affect our culture. Inspired by real stories, classic movie SFX and Madeira’s dramatic landscapes, I fuse past, present, and future. I interpret the world by building my own.