Virtual art
Virtual reality is increasingly becoming a real reality, and a milieu of art creation. We are working alongside Khora Contemporary from Copenhagen, Denmark, whose team explores the capabilities and impact of modern technology through art projects. They provide artists with the appropriate support in developing and unleashing their creative visions and exploring this new medium and its expressions.
Khora Contemporary is one of the pioneers of using a fascinating new medium that delivers the highest quality viewer experience through art works. On their list are world-class artists – Tony Oursler and Paul McCarthy (USA), Christian Lemmerz (DE), Erik Parker (DE/USA), Yu Hong (CN) and Nikita Shalenny (UA) – all of whom are featured as part of Kiblix festival.
Through selected artworks of virtual reality we learn about what has been created with technology, how artists are concerned with the space around them and with interactivity, how they layer individual elements and map them inside environments, to what extent they, and we, are taken by the widths and depths of the designed ambiances, and how much we can influence them. We are showcasing VR works to acquaint the public with an emerging field and encourage Slovenian artists to get to know the medium, to start considering its context, and perhaps, to begin working in it. Things are happening in Slovenia in this area as well.
The rapidly establishing virtual reality is also evidenced by decisively authorial, conceptually and materially unique immersive environments, as conceived by visual and performance artists Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliason, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons. The work Chalk by Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang received the Best VR Experience award at the 47th Venice International Film Festival 2017. Alejandro González Iñárritu received a special Oscar statuette in recognition of a visionary and powerful experience in storytelling for his installation Carne y Arena / Meat and Sand, 2017, which was the first VR project ever at the Cannes Film Festival.
We may wonder what the consequences of this complex set of technologies that are developing today will be; will it relieve or burden us, will it raise self-awareness and human awareness, or is it merely going to be a practical tool for spare time, for game playing and focused marketing of certain products. It is a fact it exists. And art can humanize technology, re-question its canons, and test its limitations.
Various virtual reality applications and presentations are already part of exhibitions in galleries and museums, and it is only a matter of time before such artworks will enter permanent collections of museums and other institutions, as well as public spaces, and become part of the inventory in our own living rooms, although in some places, they already are.
Peter Tomaž Dobrila
The exhibition was opened by Allega Shorto, Art Director of Khora Contemporary.
Khora Contemporary was created to become a bridge between the artists and Virtual Reality developers. We provide artists with best assistance to develop and unleash their imaginative visions exploring this new media and its limitless possibilities. We offer opportunity for artists to research the depths of VR and find inspiration to create a new body of work. With the latest technology at hand and an exciting list of artists in the pipeline, Khora Contemporary is set to become a pioneer of this fascinating new medium, assuring the best quality of the viewer experience.
It is only a matter of time before Virtual Reality artworks populate the permanent collections of museums, public spaces and our living rooms. Given Khora’s expertise in the Virtual Reality field and Faurschou Foundation’s longstanding presence in the most professional segment of the art world, Khora Contemporary is well equipped to expand artistic practice within the Virtual Reality medium. Our mission is to establish the Virtual Reality technology as a widely applied media within the arts, asserting ourselves as the Virtual Reality Art production company of choice in the art world. Our vision is to put the artist at the center of the process. Khora Contemporary is the paintbrush which makes the artists idea come alive in VR.
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Artists:
Christian Lemmerz, TRAUM, 2018 - Paul McCarthy, C.S.S.C. Coach Stage Stage Coach VR experiment Mary and Eve, 2017
- Yu Hong, She's Already Gone, 2017
Christian Lemmerz, TRAUM, 2018 (Courtesy of the artist and Khora Contemporary)
Paul McCarthy, C.S.S.C. Coach Stage Stage Coach VR experiment Mary and Eve, 2017 (Courtesy of the artist and Khora Contemporary)
Yu Hong, She's Already Gone, 2017 (Courtesy of the artist and Khora Contemporary)