Strata 

A tiny patch of land is revealed to be a vast and verdant terrain.

Strata is an immersive installation set in an explorable virtual landscape that is a meticulously rendered 3D scan of an 80’ region in the Badlands of South Dakota. As the visitor explores, they discover that this small area is filled with a tapestry of stories, memories, observations, and buried histories. Voices carry them through a multiplicity of perspectives from paleontology to foraging, wildlife management to nuclear arms, indigenous herbalism to cattle ranching, settler colonialism to environmental preservation. As they are transported through time, scale, species, and histories, they begin to weave a layered and prismatic portrait of place.  

Strata is built using a rare combination of photogrammetry, game engines, and extensively researched documentary footage. These techniques transform documentary material into explorable spaces creating a spatial documentary that is centered around careful noticing. Close observation is rewarded as the landscape comes alive through documentary footage, oral histories, and archival material. The installation is generative, and ever changing—no two experiences will be the same.

The installation will tour internationally, and local experts will lead site-specific walks in the neighborhoods surrounding the exhibition. This will bring the methodology of the project to a wide and diverse audience, encouraging viewers to closely notice the myriad perspectives of humans and non-humans who shape their own lands.

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Supported by The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, Headlands Center for the Arts Residency and Project Space, Badlands National Park Arts Residency, New York State Council on the Arts.

Credits
Alexander Porter | director, producer
Hannah Jayanti | co-director, producer, editor, dp
Katayoun Dibamehr, Floréal Films | co-producer
Juan Pedro Agurcia | associate producer
Delfina Vincenti | associate producer
Jacob Burke | game developer
Michele Graffieti | designer
Christian Knutson | field producer
Linus Gruszewski | architect