Art & Technology #32: Virtual Reality (VR)

The duo said, “For mankind there have always existed many reasons to explore new surroundings and often in a mythical way. Legends of gold and endless resources, a belief in holy lands, hope in a new society, and today the vision to transcend the mind from the body into a machine or to live on other planets. It is the wish to live in better conditions. Its [VR’s] potential lies in creating experiences, conceiving aesthetics that can’t be made in any other medium. These new technological tools exceed traditional artistic practices in certain ways.

The New Museum, a leading institute of contemporary art in New York, recently drew attention by presenting an online exhibition using VR. Co-organized by the New Museum and Rhizome, an online platform leading digital art, the exhibition was titled, <First Look: Artists’ VR>, and was designed as a mobile virtual reality application, downloadable on both iOS and Android devices. Notable is the fact that the application was complimentary to boost audience accessibility. Six prominent artists in the field of VR art, including Peter Burr, Jeremy Couillard, Jayson Musson, Jon Rafman, Rachel Rossin and Jacolby Satterwhite exhibited their newly commissioned works. In this exhibition, Jayson Musson presented <An Elegy for Ancestors>, a memorial to victims of brutal police violence, and Jon Rafman exhibited <Transdimensional Serpent>, a VR video installation in which the audience travels to different worlds on a giant white serpent.

VR art invites the audience to go beyond the simple act of viewing art on a white wall by having them experience works in a virtual three-dimensional space. With the growing number of VR artworks that step outside the traditional exhibition space, there has also been a greater amount of research on ideal ways of viewing VR art. In that sense, the New Museum’s mobile virtual reality exhibition format was applauded for having provided convenience in viewing digital art anywhere at any time. Though the demand for VR art is constantly increasing, audience experience of VR art is only in the developing stages. The New Museum’s curator Lauren Cornell said in an interview with The Creators Project, “I would say that there is a real swell of interest in VR right now as it becomes more attainable. That said, it’s costly and challenging to negotiate distribution and exhibition. It remains to be seen how truly accessible a medium it will be.” ■ with ARTINPOST