Northstar

Tabor Robak
Northstar, 2019
4k generative animation, duration infinite
86 inch TV screen

About the work

The ever-changing Northstar landscape from American artist Tabor Robak adapts to the time of day as well as the latitude and longitude of where it is being displayed. By means of user interface (UI) software, Robak attempts to match the virtual lighting and position of the sun with the real-life environment. The Northstar title is an optimistic allusion to the human desire to explore and move forward.

Northstar is a procedurally generated simulation of an infinite walk through an ever-changing virtual landscape. It brings to mind the “walking simulator” genre in gaming, which has been referred to as “gaming’s most detested genre”, because it seems to get the whole premise of video games wrong. Video games are supposed to be about running around and shooting stuff. After all, the modern form of the medium has trickled down from the military-industrial complex.

However, the walking simulator genre is more focused on peace and narrative, and Robak is someone who has always enjoyed a walk through the woods. “The natural world is the perfect panacea to the bubbling anxiety of modern life,” said the artist who, ironically, decided to try to capture this feeling in an endless virtual environment.

Robak’s work often takes on a voyeuristic quality, traveling through other people’s houses and rooms, and immersing the viewer in a very indulging environment. The shiny and sparkly landscapes created by the artist remind us of commercials, trying to work with the viewer and shutting down their critical facilities. His work aims to touch the viewer, like an advertisement, but also adds a critical edge to it.

“I’ve been playing video games obsessively forever, but the fact they’re a very easy pleasure, a way to escape and not be critical – that’s something I’m always dealing with,” says Robak. “I go back and forth between being fully immersed in the game, and being detached from it, and analysing it.

“Something that’s great about video games is that they offer a massively visual experience. The creators of video games are very generous to the players. They’ve created this really beautiful and detailed world, and you just get to go at it, whereas artwork tends to be a little bit more withholding visually, which is what creates the distance that we like in artworks.”