You can’t return #94

you can only go deeper and deeper

2023

Augmented reality/Recycled plastic

The project 'You Cannot Return #94' (2023) immerses the viewer in a recursive game between the material and the digital, where an object made of recycled plastic eternally seeks its original AR projection—the digital 'womb' from which it was born. This endless cycle of 'virtuality-reality-virtuality' becomes a metaphor for humanity’s quest for origins—whether it’s the search for God, truth, or simply the attempt to discern where the original ends and the copy begins. The physical shell of the object, gradually accumulating the mold of everyday life, reflects the inevitable descent into materiality, even as consciousness strives for something greater.

Technically, the work combines augmented reality with recycled materials, creating a tense dialogue between the durability of the physical object and the ephemerality of its digital twin. The AR projections, discoverable through an app, multiply like mirrors in a recursive corridor—each referencing the previous, yet none offering a final answer. Plastic, typically associated with artificiality, here becomes a bridge between worlds, while the mold on its surface serves as a reminder of how reality slowly 'reclaims' even the most transcendent pursuits.

Philosophically, the project plays with recursion as a fundamental condition of existence: diving deeper—whether into oneself, technology, or the search for meaning—is the only possible path. The object balances on the edge of allegory and literality: it is both a metaphor for spiritual seeking and simply an art object governed by the laws of digital recursion. 'Sometimes an object is just an object, ' the artist reminds us, inviting the viewer to decide whether to seek higher meaning in this infinite chain or simply revel in the play of reflections between two realities.