This talk positions VR in the context of an ancient desire for a completely immersive and transparent ‘total’ art that erases all traces of mediation. This is always a journey rather than a destination – particularly in this nascent period of VR. However significant changes have occurred since the current VR era began around 2016 even if the journey is progressing gradually. This talk will examine some of these changes – including current content, modes of expression, and alterations in the language we use to describe them. Some case studies will be used to explore recent examples of VR experiences that use real-time computer art to deploy expressive techniques that are paradoxically both cutting edge and inspired by old – even ancient – practices. While it is too early to define precise manifestos to guide virtual reality content creation, various theoretical and practical thinking emphasizes corporeal elements – because in real-life and in VR all action passes through the body. We can use changes in thinking from 2016 to the present to reassess content techniques and re-examine key learnings and expressive capacities, using particular examples such as forms of embodied editing, observer/participant narrative frameworks and fundamental configurations of the virtual bubble.
This SensiLab Forum will be live streamed on this page on Wednesday 26 May 2021, at 4pm.