THE CORE
THE CORE launches today.
A trialing, up and down experience over the past 12 months finally comes to an end today with its release. THE CORE has been the longest amount of time I’ve worked on any canvas. It’s been an escape, a place to flow and work with, back and forth, a giver of lessons, a teacher, and a project that has taught me a lot about myself as I spilled the deepest depths of my soul into its space in the form of art.
THE CORE is a virtual and spatial art experience built around my art. All the art that I have ever made is tangible in this world, with the environments around these pieces morphing to house their guests. Telling of further story and narrative.
You can access it here: https://joshachaplin.com/the-core
THE CORE is centered around the ominous and abstract sculptural form that occupies the centre of the virtual world. It is a representation of the self (Core / Self) and an opposite to the sculpture ‘Creator’ (https://joshachaplin.com/digitalart/creator).
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The experience is a deeply personal delve into my own life and experiences, and the people that I hold close occupy the space in some form or another.
Around it, lies different installations of bodies of work traversing themes of the digital and natural worlds, data, philosophy, spirituality, truth and meaning.
Some you can buy in the form of NFTs, that already exist on web3 marketplaces, others remain off-chain and are purely for observing leisure. The work would also be available in physical format if requested.
The experience launches with 5 main areas.
The Clarity Domes
A distinct, vibrant and saturated section of the world that contrasts the dreamscape of the world itself. Here you can find paintings, more traditional work and the body of work called ‘The Condition’. This area symbolizes the connection to the natural and is a manifestation of a love for nature.
Sculpture Houses
Similar to The Clarity Domes, this section is inherently traditional and houses sculpture work. Only one house exists currently but in the future, this will change. This area is a manifestation of a meditative, peaceful and crafted way of life. Harmonious in the way it is approached.
The centerpiece, a preserved and undying tree with a towering saturated presence over the achromatic world, is preserved and revered.The Obelisk
This area houses the Creator sculpture along with a collection exploring a mini-narrative that links many of my pieces of work. This area embodies a spiritual and ruinous theme. Greatly inspired by one of my favorite writers, Sam Harris’s quote ‘I still considered the world’s religions to be mere intellectual ruins, but I now understood that important psychological truths could be found in the rubble.’
To walk through this area is to walk through my thoughts and art on everything from spirituality, god, philosophy and truths. Which is an internally confusing and deeply interesting topic for me to explore.Meta Realms
The more futuristic area of the lot. This zone houses my body of work that explores the digital realms or the buzzword ‘Metaverse’. The area takes the form of a transporter. Themes of exploration, infinity and possibility live here. Digital worlds are a big part of what I do as an artist and their place in the future is explored in this oasis of technology.
Projection Halls
Similar to Meta Realms, designed without the laws of the real-world to conserve the idea. The grand halls of projection adheres to present the works of art that warrant being on massive displays, slowly panning over the details and bloomed imagery. Two bodies of work live here - Future Landscapes and Reverence, both art that explores environments and landscape. The imagery will one day be exhibited in the real world the way it does here, THE CORE just beat IRL to it.
Although there are 5 main areas upon launch, there are still unlisted areas to explore and discover, some hold further stories and art. Some unlock further pieces of the puzzle. It is recommended to be curious and open-minded when exploring this world, follow your curiosity and let it direct you to a place of interest.
In the design of this world, I really wanted to forget about the rules and natural laws of the world we know. When designing architecture it is so easy to design based on known limitations. I wanted to break that mould. I designed with no restrictions in mind, because that is what the metaverse will be. It will be a creator’s perfect canvas, a medium in which there is limitless possibility.
I also reined it in, in areas. To respect certain ideas and themes. I felt there ended up being a striking equilibrium between the past and future, old and the what will be. Which I think talks a lot about myself as a person and the idea’s I hold.
I designed THE CORE to be a notebook of the digital age, to hold provenance for when I’m no longer around. To be still useable by people that have ascended my lifetime, they can experience the mind of an artist in a spatial state. Does this mean virtual worlds have a soul or a conscious footprint? Who knows, but I’m here to explore this and see how we can apply meaning to the architecture of our future lives.
While this is the end of this part of the journey, the beginning of THE CORE virtual world has just begun. The world will be a canvas I will come back to indefinitely, to touch up, adjust, destroy, and rebuild the space as new art and stories are to be told. With preservation and provenance in mind, THE CORE will be one of the biggest projects of my artistic career and will hope to tell a story of the self in a more experiential way.
Lastly, I wanted to thank DREONE, for the incredible soundscape work that he created for THE CORE, please check out his work here:
You can also listen to the official CORE Soundtrack on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/7K1TCkQMpPosKiHkcJJZ2h?si=Pmvi3TIsQXqngh-gzYxaTA