Social Ecology 01
Synthetic Grove
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Synthetic Grove: Social ecology 01 is a site-specific installation developed by Pilar Studios and presented through the Hambidge Center’s Hive program at Uptown Atlanta. The project was installed on the fifteenth floor of a high-rise structure overlooking the Atlanta skyline, occupying a panoramic architectural environment positioned between interior exhibition space and the surrounding urban landscape.The installation is composed of Luminux mirrored metal panels, cut into abstracted foliage silhouettes and arranged to form a walkable, reflective grove. Each panel is UV-printed with AI-generated imagery derived from the Hambidge Center’s property, integrating site-specific ecological references into an industrial reflective surface. As viewers move through the installation, reflections of the city, the body, and the printed imagery continuously shift and overlap, collapsing distinctions between observer, environment, and representation.Synthetic Grove was developed as the first physical realization of Pilar Studios’ Second Nature framework, which examines environments produced through human industry and perception as continuations of natural systems. The installation was produced specifically for its architectural and geographic context, responding to the scale, light conditions, and visual openness of the site. By situating a constructed grove within a corporate high-rise, Synthetic Grove places representations of nature inside contemporary systems of development, infrastructure, and institutional space.
Synthetic Grove was presented as part of the Hambidge Hive initiative, which activates nontraditional exhibition sites across Atlanta and supports site-responsive work by regional artists.
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Selected Publications
ArtsATL - Hambidge Hive Levels Up for the 2025 Hambidge AuctionRough Draft Atlanta - Hambidge Hive: A high-rise take over in Atlanta’s skylineContact@pilarstudios.com
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