{"id":1195,"date":"2016-10-17T14:18:24","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T14:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2019-09-24T21:15:11","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T21:15:11","slug":"weird-reality-via-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/weird-reality-via-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"Weird Reality \/ VIA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1194\" title=\"weird_reality_980_animated-1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/weird_reality_980_animated-1.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"980\" height=\"608\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/weird_reality_980_animated-1.gif 980w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/weird_reality_980_animated-1-300x186.gif 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><br \/>\nLast week I had the pleasure to participate to <a href=\"http:\/\/artandcode.com\/weirdreality\/\" target=\"_blank\">Weird Reality<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/via-hq.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">VIA<\/a>, respectively a conference and an arts+music festival organized by some good <a href=\"http:\/\/artandcode.com\/weirdreality\/\" target=\"_blank\">friends and colleagues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Weird Reality was a symposium for the VR\/AR curious and the VR\/AR skeptic which managed to incorporate, in the words of a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/drkeir\/status\/784859986858049536\" target=\"_blank\">participant<\/a>, &#8220;an incredible wonderful diversity of gender, ethnicity, age, experience &amp; trust in tech&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Graduate students shared the stage with Virtual Reality pioneers like Brenda Laurel; creative industry professionals mingled with artists-provocateurs like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL6C0D6FDFA2C6E75A\" target=\"_blank\">Jeremy Bailey <\/a> critical theorists like Wendy Chun, who delivered a fantastic takedown of the &#8220;VR as empathy machine&#8221; narrative. Hopefully videos of the talks will be posted online in the next months <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/sfci\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1196\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1196\" style=\"width: 2548px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1196\" title=\"Screen Shot 2016-10-17 at 9.47.30 AM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.47.30-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2548\" height=\"1426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.47.30-AM.png 2548w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.47.30-AM-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.47.30-AM-1024x573.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2548px) 100vw, 2548px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1196\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scene from A Short History of the Gaze<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The intersection between the conference and the music festival was the VR salon, a collection of arty, offbeat works where I got to show my new project, <a href=\"http:\/\/molleindustria.org\/historyOfTheGaze\/\" target=\"_blank\">A Short History of The Gaze<\/a>. It&#8217;s my first, and probably last, Virtual Reality &#8220;experience&#8221; and I was surprised by the very positive reactions. I&#8217;m still figuring out the best way to put it out in the world given its susceptibility to spoilers, and the general inaccessibility of headsets and gamer-grade computers.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s some great VR works to keep an eye on:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1198\" title=\"Screen Shot 2016-10-17 at 9.50.51 AM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.50.51-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1666\" height=\"1314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.50.51-AM.png 1666w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.50.51-AM-300x236.png 300w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-17-at-9.50.51-AM-1024x807.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1666px) 100vw, 1666px\" \/><br \/>\nLaura Juo-Hsin Chen is one of my favorite artist working with VR right now. Her <a href=\"http:\/\/jhclaura.github.io\/MASK\/\" target=\"_blank\">MASK<\/a> series tackles various subject with hand-crafted headsets and software enabling performances and bizarre social interactions.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/164984672\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jhclaura.com\/portfolio\/daily-life-vr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Daily Life VR<\/a>, she turns mundane actions like eating, pooping, sleeping into imaginative immersive and social experiences.<\/p>\n<div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" style=\"width:853px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe hidef\" id=\"WYL_AupAFblRwgY\"><div id=\"lyte_AupAFblRwgY\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/AupAFblRwgY\/maxresdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/AupAFblRwgY\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/AupAFblRwgY\/0.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"460\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:853px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><\/p>\n<p>Claire Henshker is mostly known for her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.clairesophie.com\/shining360\/\" target=\"_blank\">immersive recreation of Stanley Kubrick&#8217;s The Shining<\/a> through the process of photogrammetry.<\/p>\n<p>At the conference she presented her upcoming project: Zen Zone, a sprawling imaginary ecosystem conceived and art-directed a 6 years old kid named Zen over the span of several months. The process of collecting and assembling all the outlandish creatures and the handmade assets is a great story in itself; it even involved mo-capping the kid mimiking the movements of his imaginary creatures. I understand it would be experienceable as 360 movie and as a real interactive scenario, with an Attenborough-esque voice over by Zen himself.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1199\" title=\"institue new feelings house\" src=\"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/institue-new-feelings-house.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/institue-new-feelings-house.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/institue-new-feelings-house-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.institutefornewfeeling.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Institute for New Feeling<\/a> is an art clinic\/collective committed to the research of &#8220;new ways of feeling, and ways of feeling new&#8221;. Their project include humorous but credible treatments, therapies, and wellness products. At the salon they displayed a work in progress of Ditherer, an immersive store for HTC Vive that prefigures the future of ethical shopping.<br \/>\nPicking up virtual products from the shelves of a warehouse transports you to a vivid dream-like world representing the narrative of the product. In the currently available scene, grabbing a virtual avocado takes you to <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/avocado-hating-actor-allegedly-stole-california-water-to-grow-avocados-df101ddc3053#.41vjuwhd3\" target=\"_blank\">Tom Selleck<\/a>\u2019s controversial ranch where you are bombarded by trivia and bits of avocado history, eventually ending up in a perfect recreation of GW Bush&#8217;s living room to enjoy their &#8220;famous&#8221; guacamole, in a kind of farm-to-table reverie. It&#8217;s actually even weirder than it sounds and I&#8217;m really looking forward to see more products.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1200\" title=\"put your headset\" src=\"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/put-your-headset.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1552\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/put-your-headset.png 2500w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/put-your-headset-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/put-your-headset-1024x635.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sarah Rothberg brought a work in progress of <a href=\"http:\/\/sarahrothberg.com\/UPCOMING-IN-THE-WORKS\" target=\"_blank\">Oops I put on your headset!<\/a>, a vapor-wavey app that simulates the experience of accessing the artist&#8217;s computer. Somewhat reminiscent of the hyper-millenial software memoir <a href=\"http:\/\/ninasays.so\/cibele\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cibele<\/a> or the gone but not forgotten <a href=\"http:\/\/www.creativeapplications.net\/membersonly\/noby-noby-boy-iphone\/\" target=\"_blank\">Noby Noby Boy app<\/a>. The old cyberpunk idea of Virtual Reality as operating system\/browser gets an wry and much more imaginative reboot.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1201\" title=\"dimoda\" src=\"http:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/dimoda.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"883\" height=\"552\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/dimoda.jpg 883w, https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/dimoda-300x187.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 883px) 100vw, 883px\" \/><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/digitalmuseumof.digital\/art\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\nDiMoDA: The Digital Museum of Digital Art<\/a>, is certainly not the first online\/downloadable exhibition but it&#8217;s probably the most invested in the conversation about the distribution and commercialization of natively digital art (or more specifically, of a type of walkable art installations made in Unity).<br \/>\nTheir (anti)institutional framework includes various degenerations of a virtual architecture from which you can access the artists&#8217; worlds, exhibitions IRL, and collectors&#8217; editions of the works: usb drives embedded in slick 3D printed objects.<br \/>\nThe controls of the VR version were unfortunately barf-worthy, but the environments were quite interesting and unlike anything I&#8217;ve seen in the gaming world. I see a possible convergence between the &#8220;walking simulator&#8221; type of indie game, and this increasingly more recognized art genre. Let&#8217;s join forces and kill these boring photorealistic 3D environments once for all.<\/p>\n<p>For a more complete writeup, check Blair Neal&#8217;s post on <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@laserpilot\/art-code-2016-weird-reality-notes-6a92c48308cd#.5wk1beae3\" target=\"_blank\">medium<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I had the pleasure to participate to Weird Reality and VIA, respectively a conference and an arts+music festival organized by some good friends and colleagues. Weird Reality was a symposium for the VR\/AR curious and the VR\/AR skeptic which managed to incorporate, in the words of a participant, &#8220;an incredible wonderful diversity of &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/weird-reality-via-highlights\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Weird Reality \/ VIA&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1195"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1559,"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions\/1559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.molleindustria.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}