Flora & Fauna of New Westminster, BC
Photo-based Mural on Pier Redevelopment
31 metres long by 1.3 metres high
JANUARY 2012 - Jorgensen Designs was awarded a mural design for the City of New Westminster Pier Development. The project was worked on in association with Gary Williams, Biologist, GL Williams & Associates, to ensure scientific accuracy and cultural relevancy.
Images of iconic flora and fauna that are natural, or naturalized, to the area are used. Cropping of flora and fauna, and plenty of white space emphasize the beautiful organic shapes, transforming the signage into both an education on the environment and a compelling design.
When creating this mural, the entire project was considered. The Pier was designed and is to be built according to the latest and most advanced technologies that minimize harm to the enviornment. In fact, the Pier Development project helps to sustain the City of New Westminster's natural river-front ecology.
Photography, and in particular digital photography, is a modern and state-of-the-art visual technology that has evolved from mathematical, scientific and computer advances. It is consistent with the planning, architecture and design of the Pier. Ironically, the photography in the mural has been processed with advanced software, that makes the photographic images appear hand-painted, and the colour is subjectively intensified. The division between nature (hand-painted) and culture (technology) is blurred. Is the most advanced technology one that creates a hand-painted, or natural appearance? Just as the most advanced technology of science seeks to follow nature's inherent ability to create sustainable environments.
