To create something entirely unique to serve as a stage for Modem Festival, Croatia,Popper worked with glass f ibre and concrete. The use of these materials marked a departure from Popper’s established style, but the experiment was a successful one that resulted in these materials becoming features of many works that followed.

Inspired by Carl Jung’s theories on the persona, Modem Swamp is a reflection on the human psyche. The sculpted f igure appears to have taken off its own mask to reveal what lies beneath: emptiness. The cavern has been filled with plants, a jungle of unacknowledged desires, hopes and fears.

“The persona,” Jung wrote, “is a kind of mask, designed to make a definite impression upon others, as well as to conceal the true nature of the individual.” At once a part of the self and apart from it, the persona is a guise necessary to protect the more vulnerable mechanisms of the psyche: the familiar idea of using some level of performance in public, hiding some parts of oneself from others when it doesn’t feel quite safe to reveal them. In Modem Swamp, this guise is represented by a physical mask much like the one that Jung mentioned, and the individual’s true, vulnerable nature becomes nature itself.

This transformative artwork is further enhanced by the mesmerizing technique of projection mapping, which illuminates the sculpture during the nocturnal hours, evoking a kaleidoscopic manifestation of the subconscious and the dreaming mind. The interplay of light and form enhances the mysterious allure of the artwork, inviting viewers to delve deeper into the profound layers of the human psyche, as illuminated by Jung’s profound insights.

The two temple structures on either side were built by Abstract design.