Fixing Chicago Neighbourhood and New Nature: Simulation with Paper and Digital Printing

This paper investigates the evolving relationship between perception and reality in the era of electronic media, focusing on the artworks Fixing Chicago Neighbourhood (2020) and New Nature (2019). By employing a methodology that translates imagery from photography through digital processing to physical printing, the research redefines the image as a core material rather than a mere recording tool. Drawing on theories of simulacra, video game aesthetics—specifically the concept of “empty shells”—and the art historical tradition of illusion, the paper posits that these paper-based simulations do not aim for perfect visual deception but rather utilise the “grey zone” of trompe l’oeil to stimulate viewer interaction and psychological engagement. The analysis contrasts the studio-based New Nature—which critiques the commodification of biological forms by exposing the detachment of digital “skin” from physical structure—with the guerrilla interventions of Fixing Chicago Neighbourhood, which physically enacts the idiom “to paper over” societal and urban fractures. Ultimately, this study proposes the concept of “expanded trompe l’oeil” to categorise contemporary practices in which the return to materiality exposes the “glitch” between physical objects and their virtual representations.