Have you ever thought about what immersive Virtual Reality (VR) technology can do to transform the creative process and viewing experience of art?
Back in 2014, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the social media giant Facebook, announced the acquisition of ground-breaking Oculus VR. Several big companies also launched VR headsets subsequently, whereas software company Adobe revealed virtual reality creative tools. The buzz generated caused tech experts to call the year 2016 as “The Year of Virtual Reality,” only to find that the price point is still too high for the technology to reach every nook and cranny of people’s lives.
Within the last two years, art institutions like K11 Art Foundation presented a number of virtual reality shows to the general public, such as “Electric Vibes” in 2016. Meanwhile, earlier this year at the Swiss mega-fair Art Basel Hong Kong 2017, we see a collaboration with Google Arts and Culture, which encouraged established artists to experiment with Google Tilt Brush in their artistic process.
Let’s take a look at 2 art exhibitions which utilize virtual reality as their medium:
1. Chinese artist Lin Yilin teams up with Nonny de la Peña, the ‘godmother of VR,’ to enable visitors to attempt building a slow moving wall across a busy road in China as buses, trucks, cars and motorbikes swerve around them.
2. Students from RA Schools of Royal Academy of Arts create works of art using virtual reality technology.
VR Events
Recently, “The Art of VR” was held at Sotheby’s from June 22-23, 2017 in New York. The event, in collaboration with VR Society of Hollywood, featured over 30 exhibitors.
Last but not least, let’s take a look at a TED talk about how virtual reality can be used as a storytelling tool to bridge the gap between the storyteller and their audience.
TED talk The birth of virtual reality as an art form showcases the relationship between music, art and immersive VR technology in the process of delivering mind-blowing and touching stories to the solitary or collective audience.
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VALENCIA TONG 