After a few weeks of working on the small plot for BURN2 I acquired, I've come to realize that the work would be well represented on a tilted plane like a diorama, with a background of distant objects, a false perspective, with objects in the front much larger than those farther away. This is done to reinforce the illusion through depth perception of viewing a larger space— in this case a city based loosely on New York City. The background will be on a curved surface so that the viewer is not distracted by corners, seams, or edges. All of these techniques are means of presenting a realistic view of a large scene in a compact space-- an attempt at binocular perception of depth.
I enjoyed an interesting bit of history researching the typical diorama --the Daguerre Dioramas from Paris in the early 1800s. The Daguerre Diorama was a theatrical experience viewed by an audience in a highly specialized theatre in which large landscape paintings were viewed. The audience rotated on a massive turntable to see several scenes. These Daguerre Dioramas often had two paintings, but in some cases there were three. They consisted of semi-transparent linens that overlapped in a deep tunnel to create the depth the artist wanted to convey through manipulation of natural light, making the scene change like a live-action movie. The inventor and proprietor of the Diorama was Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre (1787–1851). He later co-invented the daguerreotype , the first widely used method of photography. Some "typical diorama effects included moonlit nights, winter snow turning into a summer meadow, rainbows after a storm, illuminated fountains," waterfalls, thunder and lightning, and ringing bells.
I'm reminded of Alizarin Goldflake's immersive containers and some other immersive artworks of SL. The landscapes in the SL sims are like dioramas that our avatars roam through, representing something we know in real life.
