Vince Ibay and Jessica Miller founded Fromm as a way to channel their love of 3D into an abundance of successful personal and commercial projects. As the brains behind the cover for last year’s Future issue for CR, they told us how one of their goals was to expand their “digital practice into the physical world” and the pair have done exactly that with their debut show, Faerdom, which is on now at Downstairs at Mother in London.

“There is a feeling of permanence when we take our work out of the virtual into the physical. There is also a lot of talk around the concept of a Digital Dark Age, where the digital cultures and data we have today will be lost due to lack of proper preservation,” the studio told CR on why a physical exhibition felt right. “We think it is important to protect our present-day human experiences for future generations through multi-disciplinary outputs.”

The exhibition showcases a selection of moving image work set in a fictional kingdom, created using Fromm’s well-loved techniques of photogrammetry and motion tracking. Alongside this Ibay and Miller worked with ceramicist Priscilla Pang to create a collection of physical ceramics.

 

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“These were made by 3D printing our models, which were turned into moulds for the ceramics,” says Fromm. “We went full circle from 3D scanning physical things and bringing them into the digital space, then bringing them out of the digital into the physical again through 3D printing.”

Inspired by their love of Staffordshire figures and the stories within them, the pair wanted to reflect how they “see traditional stories through the lens of the digital age”. So the show sees heroes and saints, fairytales and myths coming together to “evoke a new spirit of time and place”.

“There is a sense of comfort in the fantasy from the fairytales we heard growing up and popular games and films such as Runescape, World of Warcraft and Shrek,” says Fromm. “Looking back at the past can help to make sense of the increased exposure to chaos that we have today through social media. A time of magic and ritual might help navigate our polarised world. Where everything is black or white, fantasy and folklore represent the grey area, the unknown – a space where some might find refuge.”

Faerdom is the name of the fictional kingdom that Fromm’s characters live in and is also the beginning of an ongoing body of work inspired by mythic narratives and personal digital spaces.

The world presented at DAM was built in just under two months, and the duo have selected three folklore stories that resonate with them the most, including the legend of St Hilda, who got rid of evil snakes and serpents in Whitby; the story of St George and how it can be viewed by Gen Z; and lastly, the Pied Piper and the parallels that can be made with the power and reach of modern entertainment.

Faerdom by Fromm Studio is on at DAM, Mother London until March 3; fromm.studio