What happens to a society when change happens too fast, social confusion reigns supreme and normal decision-making processes break down? When technological and social changes leave people detached and suffering from shattering stress and disorientation? When classic institutions (religion, family, national identity, profession) no longer offer the security and familiarity they once provided? These are the questions that futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler explore in their 1970 book Future Shock.

In spirit of their research we’re showcasing the project Lost Worlds by Rob Wetzer.

Lost Worlds is a visual exploration for what we perceive as nature, or natural. The environments in which these images are made are the virtual landscapes of videogames and instead of cardboard backdrops have become seemingly unlimited worlds. Designed to seduce the player to go explore pristine landscapes, they contain lush rainforests, icy mountain ranges, rushing waterfalls and barren deserts. Well-programmed weather systems provide rain, sunshine or snow and day and night cycles add to the ‘realness’ of the experience. To achieve a sublime-as-possible experience, the designs of these landscapes borrow heavily from Romantic interpretations of nature by painters as Caspar David Friedrich and Albert Bierstadt.