PARAGON ONE, 2021 DIGITAL ART Encapsulation is a process used in various fields. In biology, it is a process of entrapping active agents for a controlled release. In software engineering, it is to enclose a structure into a single module. Based on language alone, to encapsulate is to enclose and object into a capsule or capsule-like structure. In the face of limited time horizons, nostalgia can aid effective ageing by acting as a socioemotional selectivity strategy, which makes encapsulation of nostalgic memories that older adults possess to become a source of emotional value.

Due to this human nature, a trend of having objects that holds nostalgic value to be encapsulated and opened in the future is induced. The capsule is named ‘Time Capsule’. A time capsule might help with inducing nostalgia which helps with the ageing process, but it does not stop aging itself.

Aging is a fight that can never be won, and yourself at a given time will always end up being in the past. To capture someone, encapsulate if you will, so they exist physically without age is a million-dollar question. To envision yourself at a given cross-section of this line we call time, be frozen in place while simultaneously moving forward along the same line, is a concept we aim to achieve. And with the current technology at disposal, we, Projekt Capsule, is striving towards achieving. The main concept revolving the collective is converting physical human beings into 3D specimens.

The idea for The Paragon is to envision the individuals we hold dearly in our lives, stored in an abstract content in our mind. We obtained pictures of friends and family to be used as reference for their 3D model. Upon conversion into a 3D model, the specimens would then be removed of any hair, signifying the very essence of a human’s face. These models will then be used and displayed inside a virtual art gallery, signifying their value in our lives.

The Paragon represent a part of our psyche, the part we store the people around us that holds value. These people would be the ‘art pieces’ being exhibited in our virtual gallery as a metaphor for their value sentimentally. The environment for the gallery would be that of an abstract environment which is designed to be aesthetically pleasing, as a representation of how pleased we are that they exist in our lives. The Paragon would be digitally constructed, and displayed publicly via a website. The virtual gallery is initially designed and drawn using VectorWorks, which is then exported into various 3D applications to be constructed into a working digital gallery.

The gallery would then be integrated into our website, www.projektcapsule.com, to be viewed publicly. The virtual gallery would have control similar to a video game to ease users in navigating the gallery. Since, the gallery is integrated into our website, visitors does not have to install any third party software to be able to view and experience this virtual gallery.

Visitors would just have to visit our webpage, navigate into the page for the virtual gallery, and they’re done. The integration of this digital gallery would be made compatible with computer browsers and mobile browsers, as these two are the most used platform for web browsing.

In addition, since restrictions are applied in efforts to curb the pandemic, being able to physically visit an art gallery seems uncertain at this point. By the time for the artworks to be publicly exhibited, there is no guarantee that the war with the pandemic has been won.

This artwork of creating a virtual gallery would help overcome that issue, and in the case of the restrictions not being lifted yet, we hope that this gallery would generate desire for the public to physically visit the art galleries in Malaysia once the whole pandemic is over. Several visuals have been rendered and included in this proposal to give an idea on the looks of this virtual gallery to be evaluated on our application for Bakat Muda Sezaman 2021.