I'm delighted to be a part of Schloss Solitude's online virtual reality residency (http://schloss-post.com/category/web-residents/re-entering-the-ultimate-display/). Over the course of the next four weeks, I'll be sharing progress on my latest VR work "The House of Shadow Silence."
"House" takes places in Frederick Kiesler's stunning Film Guild Cinema, which opened in 1929 in New York City and operated for a few decades (it's now a recording studio). Kiesler, a Swiss architect, was a member of the De Stijl group. This cinema was among the first to be designed specifically for the viewing of film. Keep in mind that, at the time, most films were being viewed in theater settings, which had considerable different seating arrangements and viewing angles.
I fell in love with Kiesler’s cinema when I came across photos of its modernist interior (in Anne Friedberg's magnificent book The Virtual Window) and was moved by the architect's goal for the spectator: he/she would "lose himself in an imaginary, endless space." To support this experience, Kiesler added a few forward-thinking features. The "screen-o-scope" was "a device for the main screen with three auxiliary screens spanning the auditorium." For heightened moments in a film, additional projections would cover the side walls creating a deeper immersion. Similarly, the "project-o-scope" was "a gallery of light-stations encircling the auditorium sending rays in all directions." Sadly, the screen-o-scope was never realized due to budgetary constraints. I suppose the project-o-scope experienced the same fate.
I'm attracted to transcendental experiences and often try to create them through my software-generated animations. I’m especially interested in the possibility of using VR to create impossible scenarios that unfold within familiar spaces. Last year, I created a VR experience that transported visitors to Portland's Upfor Gallery into an immersive painterly experience that unfolded in a virtual clone of the gallery (http://mantissa.ca/projects/ascension.php). Viewers looking upwards would float into a pulsating void within the ceiling. When I encountered Kiesler's goal for an endless cinematic experience, I wanted to experience his vision using VR.
Thanks++ to Mario Doulis, Clara Herrmann and Akademie Schloss Solitude for the opportunity and support.