Title: Into the Garden 2.0
Year: 2025
Venue: Hazel McCallion Central Library, Mississauga, Canada
Exhibition Type: Experimental/Interactive VR Installation
Medium: Virtual reality painting, natural audio, immersive digital environment, projection mapping
Description:
This project transformed the façade of Hazel McCallion Central Library into a large-scale projection mapping installation, turning the architecture into a canvas for storytelling.
Into the Garden 2.0 (2025) is an immersive virtual reality artwork that invites participants on a journey inside the life of a particle or a single pollen of a flower. Within this tiny element exists a vast, intricate world; as viewers zoom in, the flower itself becomes a particle within an even larger ecosystem. The work reveals a universe rich with detail, encouraging exploration, wonder, and reflection on the interconnectedness of life.
The project blends VR painting with natural soundscapes, creating an intimate, meditative experience that engages the senses and evokes curiosity about the natural world. Alek Phan’s exploration was partly informed by learning from Alan Colley, an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, whose teachings on the animal world, ecological systems, and traditional understandings of the natural world shaped the conceptual and visual approach of the piece during the public art project at Park Party, Arts in Summerlea Park, Etobicoke. This brought a profound appreciation for interdependence, observation, and storytelling through nature.
Into the Garden exemplifies Alek’s socially and environmentally conscious practice, merging digital technology with experiential learning to highlight both personal and universal connections to the natural world.
Documentation / Publication:
The work was digitally recorded and archived through VR capture, with selected experiences shared via the Project Mapping Mentorship – Arts and culture, City of Mississauga.
Selected images is published on Hazel McCallion Central Library’s online platforms to showcase community-driven digital art.