“Proxima” is a spatio-temporal loop, a search for the infinite. It is a vision, as an echo to the poem of Charles Baudelaire “The Abyss”. We are a prisoner between the two unknowns that are birth and death, in the immensity of the world, between our disproportionate impulses of Eros and Thanatos. Each second brings its share of illusions. We think we can grab the glimmer that would tell everything, explain everything. But it moves away ever more, and when it comes to rest at last, it delivers nothing of its intention, or about what would be on other side. This shirking light represent that feeling of total frustration we have, sensing that, this infinite world, we could almost grasp it. At least we have this illusion within ourselves.
But is this world real or deceptive? What is what we are looking at? “Proxima” puts in abyss cinematic VR, a technology which plunges us into a virtual sphere, in a mesh of triangles upon which moving images are mapped. Our actions trigger these images and their eternal renewal gives us the illusion of grasping a real world. With a headset over the eyes or eyes wide open out in the open, does our sight go beyond the big sphere of atmosphere in which we are immersed?

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Director: Mathieu Pradat

France, 2017

This first Virtual Reality production by artist Jonathan Meese and his mother Brigitte Meese is a journey into the heart of the “tyranny of art”. In Meese’s virtual studio we witness the creation of a 360° total artwork of the future: The sleeping artist is dreaming wonderful, inspiring dreams. Then his mother enters the room, brings coffee and urges him to start painting. Another mother Meese comes in, then another, then another… and the artist, in a creative frenzy, is painting, because “art is simply getting started, and at once you’re greater than Picasso” (Jonathan Meese). While Clouzot’s famous movie “Le mystère Picasso” (1956) is portraying the creative act on a two-dimensional screen, the spectators of “Mutter und Sohn” are in the midst of events and enter its enigma. The white studio turns into a multidimensional screen. Several mothers comment on, rate and provoke an oeuvre that is a reflection on Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Perkins, Richard Wagner, and Joseph Beuys. It leads to the inevitable conclusion that everyone is an artist, at least behind these VR glasses.

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Director: Jonathan Meese

Germany, 2018

The musical style of French artist “Kinnie Lane” sounds very similar to 1980s pop music. Repeating synth patterns, straight drum lines and lots of reverb on the vocals are characteristic for this style. Thus my concert for this artist is referring to the aesthetics of that era. Animations of analogue graphic computers (Scanimate) and early, very rudimentary digital computers are my inspiration for the concert’s visuals. This style is currently trending again; however, it is not yet common in VR. I try to make it tangible and perceptible.
In early computer games of the 1980s movement was of central importance. The idea of going on a journey with an artist during their concert appealed to me right away. Unfortunately, movements not initiated by the users are very complex to realize in VR since they can interfere with the sense of balance and lead to nausea. Precise reference points moving in synch with the user are important to prevent disorientation. In my concert, this reference point is a truck on which the users ride through different settings. The artist is on top of the driver’s cabin, performing for the audience located on the loading area of the truck.

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Director: Jörg Kahlhöfer

Hamburg, 2018

“gaengeVRtl” enables the spectator to visit a virtual rendition of Hamburg’s Gängeviertel district. Using photogrammetry we digitized parts of the area and created and impressionist version of this fascinating part of town.

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Director: Sven Freiberg

Hamburg, 2018

This short VR films allows viewers to make a visceral connection with Vaysha, a young girl born with a left eye that sees only the past and a right eye that sees only the future. Like a terrible curse, Vaysha’s split vision prevents her from inhabiting the present. Blinded by what was and tormented by what will be, she remains trapped between two irreconcilable temporalities.
In this metaphoric tale of timeless wisdom and beauty, based on the eponymous short story by Georgi Gospodinov, filmmaker Theodore Ushev reminds us of the importance of keeping our sights on the present moment.

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Director: Theodore Ushev

Canada, 2017