The Sims meets the digital apocalypse in Mureş Nicoleta's 3D collages
The Cluj-Napoca-based artist creates digital collages, video and Instagram filters to question how an increasing reliance on the internet and technology affects humankind.
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Many children of the 90s and 2000s will remember causing some havoc on The Sims. Putting your Sim in the swimming pool and taking away the ladder; setting off a fire and taking away all the doors; or making a house entirely devoid of toilets are just a few examples. But, Mureş Nicoleta’s pieces – which feature 3D avatars implicated in surreal scenes of catastrophic happenings – are far from mindless childhood cruelty, and instead have an important message woven throughout.
“Fascinated” by the times we currently live in, Mureş represents “the virtual body under different stress-related situations, anxieties and fears”. She continues: “my works may appear dystopian because of the 'numbness' of the characters – they seem to have a hard time adapting to such a fast changing environment.” This focus has led Mureş to become nostalgic about the internet of the early 2000s, when “we were less hypnotised by screens”. And so, much of her work – the uniform 3D avatars and found photos – takes inspiration from this more organic, less polished digital era.
Mureş Nicoleta: What Isn't There (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
Mureş Nicoleta: Before you Wake Up Still (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
Mureş Nicoleta: The World in the Digital Mirror-Desk (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2022)
Mureş Nicoleta: Surrender Still (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
Mureş Nicoleta: Lastcoffee (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta ,2022)
Mureş Nicoleta: Surrender Still (2) (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
Mureş Nicoleta: Surrender Still (1) (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
Mureş Nicoleta: The World in the Digital Mirror-Moto (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2022)
Mureş Nicoleta: Face meets Glass (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
Mureş Nicoleta: An Employee Owned Company (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2020)
Mureş Nicoleta: Best Hug (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
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Mureş Nicoleta: Keep Looking (Copyright © Mureş Nicoleta, 2021)
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About the Author
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Olivia (she/her) joined the It’s Nice That team as an editorial assistant in November 2021 and soon became staff writer. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in English literature and history, she’s particularly interested in photography, publications and type design.