Background: More than 20 years ago, Roy Ascott announced how Virtual Reality “encompasses a whole ontology of telepresence, of sensory immersion, and immaterial connectivity, which affords the construction of new worlds” (Ascott, 2000). This practice-based research (as defined by Linda Candy, 2006) explores opportunities for Virtual reality to test the potential for curatorial practices through generative, immersive, virtual world-building while exploring new digital materialities for and with the medium of collage.
Contribution: In 2020, many international art festivals and exhibitions were cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. As invited curators of the 2021 LESS Festival of Contemporary Collage (DK), unable to travel to Denmark, we created a custom-built immersive virtual reality environment which could function as a hybrid ‘telepresence’ across the cities of Melbourne and Viborg. With the festival founder, renowned Ukrainian-Danish collage artist Sergei Sviatchenko, we held both on– and offline workshops, (LESS Education) creating original collage sculptures from our photography of built and natural environments from the two cities of Viborg and Melbourne. The sculptures were installed both in galleries and open spaces across the City of Viborg, with an analogous “Collage Garden” in VR, which can be freely explored either with an Internet browser, or through a VR headset.
Significance: The LESS Festival of Collage is the first international festival of contemporary collage in the world. LESS was founded by Sergei Sviatchenko, produced by the Skovgaard Museet, funded by the Municipality of Viborg, with the patronage of UNESCO and the Danish Ministry of Culture. The Collage Garden was exhibited at the Amtmandens Gallery, and in the public gardens of Viborg (DK). We have since been confirmed by the Skovgaard Museum director as ongoing curators of LESS festival, and members of LESS Education advisory board.
History
Subtype
- Curation (Exhibition)
