Endless Possibilities — #Flora Museum Challenge

What is this gigantic medieval wine jug doing in the middle of Times Square? Yeah — that’s exactly what I asked myself too, so I decided to find out for myself. 

After hours of scrolling the MET artwork collection, I finally stumbled upon a beautiful French wine jug from ca. 1680. Although I didn't have an idea of what I wanted to create with it, I knew I wanted to use this particular jug for my FLORA creation because I found it so visually mesmerizing. Then I thought, hey, what about putting something so classic and elegant into the most modern and urban setting one could think of: Times Square. So I decided to scale the jug in size on FLORA as a first step. 

But then the more important question arose… what would its function be in Times Square? To put something that absurd in the middle of an urban setting like NYC, it must have a real reason to be there — to serve a purpose. At that point, an idea sparked; a portal. 

Initially, my thoughts were almost fixed on either showing the portal take the viewer back to the medieval times — the era in which the jug was used, or to a Greek mythological world to complement and tell  the story of the paintings on the jugs exterior, or maybe even to outer space. But the more I contemplated the idea, I felt like choosing a destination for the portal would limit what the artwork could mean. I was sure that leaving the destination unknown felt more powerful. Rather than defining what exists on the other side, the piece invites the viewer to discover the possibilities for themselves — allowing them to draw their own artwork using their imagination. In the video, the story ends when the portal is discovered and entered — but that’s where the viewer’s story only begins.

Using FLORA made it very easy for me to implement the setting and atmospheric ideas I had in mind for the placement of the jug and the street address in Times Square. FLORA effectively enabled me to translate all my thoughts and brainstorming onto a digital canvas that allowed this cinematic first person viewer's encounter to feel like a moment the viewer could actually experience.

Artwork link: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/208903