Description:
"DAS PORTAL At the End of the World" by Dennis Rudolph is an immersive artistic project that blurs the lines between physical and virtual realities. Das Portal rearticulates Auguste Rodin’s Gates of Hell within a contemporary technological context. The work incorporates the digital reconstruction of California City, a failed 1950s urban development project located in the Mojave Desert. Allowing the user to fly above the landscape accompanied by Richard Wagner’s Entry of the Gods into Valhalla, passing through a series of giant 3d painted mythological figures, Das Portal draws inspiration from Baroque ceiling frescoes like Pietro da Corona’s Triumph of Divine Providence.
Using VR 3D painting software, Rudolph positions himself as a painter of the 21st century by transposing his gestures into the digital realm, overlaying a meticulously recreated virtual version of California City. In Das Portal, Rudolph identifies California as the geopolitical “end of the world”, the final frontier of Western civilization where physical and metaphysical boundaries converge. By situating his work in California City, Rudolph invites reflection on the duality of existence and the unknown that lies beyond. https://dennisrudolph.com/
