If future humans (or post-humans) ever live in completely virtual worlds, what would their lives look like? What forms of life and communication are possible inside virtual spaces? With the interactive exhibition Eclipse in Tetem, artists Ali Eslami and Mathilde Renault explore new forms of human connection in virtual worlds. In the exhibition, participants can interact with each other by choosing the character they want to embody in Virtual Reality (VR) or by interacting with these entities as Birds, both physically in Tetem and online.
On 11 September Ali Eslami takes the physical and online audience on a journey inside the virtual worlds of Eclipse while exploring new and radical forms of space, time and body. During his VR talk, Ali Eslami, in collaboration with Mathilde Renault, will login to Eclipse as a Bird and interact with the VR entities called Alless and Lena. Get to know the different entities, their feelings and interests and explore new ways of expression and communication through virtual reality.
Ali Eslami is a Virtual Reality artist whose works in interactive experiences question the restraints of physical space, time and body while articulating possible futures. Mathilde Renault is a visual artist whose works investigate and speculate upon remote geographies through sensory experiences. The exhibition Eclipse deals with questions: How do we deal with the presence of “the other”? To what extent can we really know other entities around us? Who determines the design of living together in the virtual world? And how do we relate to (virtual) space and time?
- You can join the VR talk by Ali Eslami in several ways:
- Register via the red button on the website to physically attend the talk in Tetem. Please note that there are limited seats available. (Registration is required)
- Join the VR talk online on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/falsemirror_os (no registration required)
- Follow the livestream of the VR talk during GOGBOT (location to be announced, no registration required)
Virtual Reality exhibition Eclipse
The VR Talk takes place inside Eclipse, the new Virtual Reality exhibition by Ali Eslami en Mathilde Renault, developed for Tetem in the Netherlands. In this exhibition the public is invited to an unprecedented human interaction and social experience, while exploring different ways of interaction and communication inside virtual worlds. Eclipse is a hybrid exhibition, available to experience both physically in Tetem and online. It offers participants a shared experience where they discover the extent of their physicality as well as the result of their interaction with one another.
Inside the physical space in Tetem, visitors can choose which character in Virtual Reality (VR) they want to embody. Alless is a being who leans towards order and who creates spaces and tools with a tendency to counter his emotions. Lena is a fluid form inclined to chaos who controls natural forces and dynamics of events. Although these two characters can’t see each other, as they move through different levels of consciousness, they can find traces of each other’s presence that allow them to decipher the other being’s inner-space. Visitors can also choose to be a third form of agency called Bird. Bird observes and interacts with the VR characters Alless and Lena by leaving traces and messages to both characters. The Bird view provides users a wider perspective on the reality of ‘False Mirror’ while allowing them to freely navigate within this world. The Bird can interact both in the exhibition space and online using the live streaming-platform Twitch. For more information visit tetem.nl/eclipse