Nicolas Claessens
I find myself lost in between all the realms that make up my reality.
This AdMA year I started out where I left off with my thesis ‘Aesthetosphere’. A research about internet aesthetics and how digital cultures influence architectural practice. While the context of the research has stayed largely the same this year, the research question and problem statement has shifted multiple times. Going from identity, to speculative architecture, to escapism and an online counter movement, in reality the research has become about a complex entanglement of all these layers today.
The field of internet aesthetics is a vast landscape of visual and audio styles, with some notable aesthetics being cyberpunk, synthwave and cottagecore. My time in AdMa is short so I decided to focus on one specific aesthetic this year, this way I can focus on developing my research skills, theory and methodologies. I chose to dive deeper into vaporwave, which might be the internet aesthetic that has permeated the most into contemporary image culture.
The main methodology of the research is ethnographic research of online spaces and cultures. Although the main methodology was quickly settled, its richness in context itself made my practice evolve as well. I started out with the concept of an atlas, which quickly evolved into field guides and now I am working with the format of postcards.
Throughout the whole process there is definitely one constant for me: the post-digital condition. I see this condition more as an attitude of working within the digital and sharing the research outside. “post-” does not mean after the digital but rather “in the sense of post-punk (a continuation of punk culture in ways which are somehow still punk, yet also beyond punk)”. As a “hacker attitude of taking systems apart and using them in ways which subvert the original intention of the design”. The post–digital condition in broad terms is about contradiction. Being critical of ‘digital’, but being trapped within.
A big hurdle in my research was showing the relevance of digital culture, as often these cultures get thrown together with sentiments of escapism. It is in this sentiment the urgency lies to me, why is this sentiment even here? Escape from what? As well as showing that online digital cultures go beyond escaping alone. The outcome of this research is not defined, as I see this year as a part of the larger research that is Aesthetosphere. Although letting this year's work land somewhere is valuable. This year I dove deep into vaporwave, wielding different methodologies that fit within ethnographic research. I share my research in the shape of postcards from my ‘travels’ through the vaporwave realms, recounting the interweaving conversations of positionality, post-coloniality, image cultures, post-digital and most importantly, vaporwave.
“Cover of the graphic novel Aesthetosphere”
“Vaporwave realm”
“Iceberg of Internet Aesthetics”
“Window view of vaporwave space in 3D software Blender”
“My office and base of operation, in vaporwave modus”
Nicolas Claessens is a Belgian architect who is interested in digital cultures and how they intersect with the contemporary architecture. His main field of focus is the image cultures of internet aesthetics and how they hold agency within architecture and design.