Virtual entry into a landscape in the pre-digital age: from the picturesque journeys of the 19th century to the immersive experience in Akira Kurosawa’s <i>Dreams</i> (1990)

Abstract

In the evolution towards virtualisation, numerous visual devices have used the landscape motif as a tool for experimenting with the viewer’s gaze. From the landscape paintings of the 17th century to most of the pre-cinematic viewing devices of the 19th century, and finally to the use of superimposition in 20th century cinema prior to the digital age, numerous examples of the prevalence of the landscape-virtuality binary can be found. This raises the questions of what landscape art has contributed to virtual culture and the place virtuality occupies in landscape historiography. In order to answer both these questions, this article takes an archaeological approach to landscape depiction, beginning with a consideration of the influence that the concept of the picturesque had on the visual culture of the late eighteenth century, followed by an analysis of its evolution and impact on devices and approaches to viewing that presaged the act of entering virtual worlds prior to the introduction of digital technology. This exploration reveals the connections between landscape forms of different time periods and, in parallel, studies how these forms are inscribed in an imaginary of the landscape that has traditionally been based on reality.