Sarah Meyohas, ‘Cloud of Petals (Narrated Trailer)’
Workers select 100,000 petals from 10,000 roses to create a generative algorithm in this meditation on nature, beauty and uniqueness
Workers select 100,000 petals from 10,000 roses to create a generative algorithm in this meditation on nature, beauty and uniqueness
Sarah Meyohas
Cloud of Petals (Narrated Trailer)
2017, 3 min 45 sec
In the 2017 short film Cloud of Petals (Narrated Trailer), Sarah Meyohas embarks on a cinematic exploration of the intricate relationships woven between beauty, nature, digital evolution and exchange. In the former Bell Labs, a space that echoes the merger of scientific innovation and artistic ingenuity, Meyohas orchestrates a visually captivating and intellectually profound narrative. This unfolds through the meticulous endeavours of 16 workers, who are engrossed in the act of selecting and archiving 100,000 petals from 10,000 roses, thereby creating a digital garden in the Cloud. From this rich repository of floral imagery emerges an artificial intelligence algorithm with the ability to generate an endless array of unique rose petals, initiating a dialogue on the shifts in perceptions of beauty and subjectivity in an era of technological advancements. The film, through its juxtaposition of the organic and the digital, crafts a haunting meditation on the contemporary intersections of nature and machine, offering a glimpse into the evolving aesthetics of the automated age.
About Sarah Meyohas
Conceptual artist Sarah Meyohas (b. 1991, New York) considers the production of value, the nature of exchange and the romantic resonance of the sublime in a practice that seeks to reveal the systems ‒ both innate and manufactured ‒ that govern contemporary society. Pairing a studied consideration of the unrealised potential of various technologies with a deft handling of analogue artistic techniques, Meyohas produces work that is as conceptually rich as it is visually arresting. Investigating the intricacies of a broad range of media, including photography, film, holography, artificial intelligence and the blockchain, Meyohas unearths potential connections among nature, culture, technology and humanity. Her vivid imagery makes reference to myriad motifs of art history ‒ from the echoes of classical fascination in the nude female form and the romantic allure of the natural world to the meticulous shapes and colours of geometric abstraction.
Sarah Meyohas, Cloud of Petals (Narrated Trailer), 2017, 3 min 45 sec. Courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen
