Connecting people, tech and the planet, Pitch Studios creates digital artworks with purpose

Pitch Studios, a phygital art practice founded by Christie Morgan, has long employed digital techniques to expand our perception of the world. From the natural environment to ecosystems and communities, whatever the subject matter, Christie and her thought-provoking practice proves that, especially in the digital sphere, anything is possible.

We last heard from Christie when she gave us the lowdown at Nicer Tuesdays in 2019, during which we saw 3D spaces and digital experiences brought to the big screen. Catching up two years later – “It has been a while, hasn’t it!” – not only has she started toying with different technologies like AI, she’s also started to tease out the “next generation” of the studio. This includes an upcoming self-initiated project in 2022, which “encompasses a new manifesto, examining our interconnected relationships with the planet, ecosystems and phygital spaces and technologies,” she tells It’s Nice That. “This project will act as a sort of ‘visual dialogue’ between ourselves and our audience, which (we hope) will encourage a more collective, empathetic and interactive way to engage with our outcomes.”

After a quick glance at the studio’s work, you’ll get a sense of the breadth of topics it likes to explore. This includes a meditative, endless garden made via AR that brings its protagonist one step closer to nature, an experience that allows you to wander blissfully through a landscape. Elsewhere, the studio has created short films that visualise the circular economy and positive impact of slow fashion; and a project inspired by feelings of intimacy, desire, seduction and connection. Then there’s Streaming Consciousness, one of Christie’s favourite projects to date that kicked off first as an experiment before it transformed into a multidisciplinary artwork. “Between 2018 and January 2019, 47 young people located globally volunteered to share their ‘streaming’ thoughts in a private Slack group, anonymously and without the discourse of likes, favourites or replies,” explains Christie. “Participants shared confessions, desires, hopes, successes, dreams, existentialism and realisations, inverting their inner monologues in an experience that was both deeply personal and collaborative.”

The art project is bashfully colourful in its presentation, where the vibrant backdrops are paired with functional, detailed typography and a few artful squiggles incorporated for good measure. The title page is wonderfully unique, too, as it displays a fragmented font and punchy patterned artwork in the back. Having initially been presented as a web experience – made in collaboration with Twomuch Studio, Nathalie DeValliere and Ana Roman – it soon evolved into an interactive exhibition and launch at Loop Space, Melbourne. It was also exhibited at the EP7 Gallery in Paris last year.

In another significant project, Christie points out the short film titled Let’s (Not) Get This Bread, which was shown in 2019 at the V&A Museum for V&A Lates in collaboration with Screen Shot. “For this particular Lates programme, we looked at ‘The Future of Food’ where we examined the (possible) links between food wastage and ‘girl boss’ culture,” she adds. “We sought to connect the dots between these two salient internet-driven cultural attitudes and a broken system, questioning if these attitudes could be encouraging the consumer food waste epidemic in the western world.” Aptly placing a moulding loaf of bread at the centre, the animation narrates “girl boss” culture and self-care as it kneads dough and slices toast, only for it to sit festering on a revolving display stand in a vibrantly pink setting at the end.

It’s clear that, from the get-go, Christie and her artwork with Pitch Studios are here to cause a stir in the art landscape. She turns a fluid and digital lens onto the important – and necessary – topics of today, asking us to question our consumerist habits and, more importantly, to stay connected to one another. When asked how she hopes her audience will react to her work in general, she says: “I hope that it will encourage our audiences to establish a deeper connection with their ecosystems and communities through an expressive and emotive visual experience. Our intention has always been to act as a reminder that we are (planet/people/technologies) all inextricably linked and that, if we can simply empathise with our ecosystems more, perhaps we can learn something.”