In line with the exponential entry of XR – Extended Reality in almost all creative fields and beyond, once again the Venice International Film Festival, now in its 81st edition, with Venice Immersive demonstrates its commitment to mapping the instances of our present by dedicating a specific section to immersive media. The festival, born in 2017 as a pioneering competition of virtual reality works within a world-class film festival, returns again this year to the evocative location of the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio (constantly connected to the Lido by a free shuttle) with 63 projects from 25 countries, of which 26 in competition, 19 of which are world premieres.
Gwenael François, “Oto’s planet”, 2024, 28 min., virtual reality (Luxembourg, Canada, France)
The official Venice Immersive program includes all means of creative expression based on new technologies: 360° videos, XR works, virtual worlds, interactive and sensorial installations. In addition to the works in competition, it will be possible to enjoy 30 projects chosen from the best works already distributed or presented in other events after the last edition of the Festival, divided into the sections Best of Experiences, Best of Worlds, including 20 projects created by independent artists from allover the world on the VRChat platform, and Biennale College Cinema – Immersive. Until September 7, 2024, all accredited visitors to the Festival will have access, upon reservation, to the entire program of experiences and, in addition, a special subscription will be available, independent from that of the main event, reserved for people over eighteen years of age interested only in this area.
Hayoun Kwon, “The guardians of Jade Mountain”, 18 min., installation, virtual reality (France, Taipei)
While waiting for the three prizes up for grabs (Venice Immersive Grand Prize, Special Jury Prize and Realization Prize) to be assigned by the international Jury composed of Celine Daemen (transdisciplinary director), Marion Burger (production designer) and Adriaan Lokman (creator of time-based artistic works, linear projects, interactive and intermedial works), we offer here some first general considerations on these media still in the experimental phase and some reports of particularly effective works, among those we have managed to experience. It is clear, first of all, the maximum imperative to involvement, which passes through a sort of mental and emotional transposition of the tangible body of the user into the virtual dimension, presented as an alternative all-encompassing environment in which time and space appear infinite.
Arif Khan, “Address Unknown: Fukushima Now”, 25 min., virtual reality (Japan)
If the evocation of such a perception occurs through a dematerialization of the spectator’s real physicality, the body persists as a crucial problematic in the friction between the credibility (sometimes truly surprising) of the virtual environment and the hardware component of the devices that allow access to it. In fact, they are sometimes so delicate that they lose the correct setting during the experience, abruptly revealing the deception, and are generally too perceptible to be forgotten by those who wear them, not to mention that, in interactive works, an ease of use is required that is perhaps not so obvious in those who are not familiar with gaming. It is therefore natural to wonder in what context and with what methods the circulation of these works will be implemented, given that it would be desirable, given the investment in aesthetic terms and the intellectual ambitions of which they are an expression, for it not to occur in a predominantly private and individual sphere, an aspect that would end up relegating them to a marginal position, at least in the medium term, in the debate on art. Precisely because we want to think that they are already an integral part of it, we now outline a rudimentary list of recurrences to try to orient their reading. From a stylistic point of view, three main orientations can be noted: three-dimensional animated drawing (in which starry skies, cosmic or dystopian landscapes prevail), 3D film (where the director’s commitment is concentrated on placing the spectator at the center of the scene rather than in front of it) and digital abstraction, in which self-referential shapes and colors no longer attempt to evoke any analogy with elements taken from visible reality.
Zhuzmo, “All I know about Teacher Li”, 20 min., virtual reality (USA)
Among the works belonging to the first group, we point out first of all “Oto’s planet” by Gwenael François, a bittersweet tale in which the viewers, by “pinching” with their fingers the images that surround them, follow the adventures of a hermit with Middle Eastern features and an astronaut who find themselves sharing a tiny planet. If initially one is tempted to associate their antagonism with a naive opposition between nature and technology tinged with geopolitical allusions suggested by the characters’ features, the ending overturns expectations to open up to an existential reflection on the destinies of human beings. This is followed by the virtual reality animation “Mamie Lou” by Isabelle Andreani which, despite the captivating graphics, makes the viewer responsible in a reflection on care and the end of life as a threshold to cross after having made peace with one’s memories.
Chélanie Beaudin-Quintin, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, “Une eau la nuit (Bodies of water)”, 10 min., virtual reality (Canada)
“The guardians of Jade Mountain” by Hayoun Kwon instead involves the viewer in the exploration of the Jade Mountain in Taiwan alongside the Japanese anthropologist Ushinosuke Mori who dedicated his life to it in the early 1900s. Here the visitor is invited to move in an enchanted forest populated by indigenous, animal and plant presences, crossing an ever-changing virtual space. The only flaw: the presence of other spectators indicated as grayish columns of fog, a solution that is not entirely effective despite the evident technical complexity of such a setting. Also very interesting is “Address Unknown: Fukushima Now” by Arif Khan, a documentary in pointillist pictorial style on the remains of the Japanese city made uninhabitable by the nuclear explosion and on the ethical issues related to its reconstruction on a different site.
François Vautier, “Champ de bataille”, 21 min., virtual reality (France, Belgium, Luxembourg)
One of the most original installations, “All I know about Teacher Li” by Zhuzmo, crosses several stylistic planes. It is an interactive screening that conceptualizes with essential graphics the circulation of information on the Internet to tell the story of the so-called Chinese “White paper protest” from 2022 against the government’s anti-Covid restrictions. If on the one hand the work has the merit of contributing to the otherwise buried circulation of video documents taken by citizens oppressed in their individual freedoms by the violent measures to prevent the pandemic, on the other hand the fact that the production is American raises some propagandistic suspicions.
Martina Mahlknecht, Martin Prinoth, “Below deck”, 23 min., installation, virtual reality (Germany, Italy) developed within the framework of Biennale College Cinema VR, seventh edition (2022/2023)
Instead, “Une eau la nuit (Bodies of water)” by Chélanie Beaudin-Quintin and Caroline Laurin-Beaucage, “A simple silence” by Craig Quintero and “Champ de bataille” by François Vautier reflect on the possible developments of theater and cinema. The first two works are very refined performances interpreted by real actors, the third is a fragment of historical film: in all of them the gravity center of of the direction is the point of view of the spectator, who is directly questioned by the looks of the characters who appear in life-size, nullifying the ideal gap that separates the audience from the scene.
Ben Joseph Andrews, Emma Roberts, “Turbulence: jamais vu”, 10 min., installation, virtual reality, (Australia)
It goes further in the experimentation “Below deck” by Martina Mahlknecht and Martin Prinoth, a film-environment project developed as part of the seventh edition (2022/2023) of Biennale College Cinema VR. Here the viewer equipped with a visor, no longer anchored to the armchair, moves freely between two theatrical curtains, one real and the other virtual which, moving apart, show the backstage of the activities of a group of Filipino workers on a cruise ship. The intent of making the visitor-voyeur feel present while excluding him/her from the events on stage is perfectly successful here and the irony and the inevitable denunciation of exploitation are equally well calibrated.
Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla, “Impulse: playing with reality”, 35 min., installation, mixed reality (United Kingdom, France)
We conclude this review of works, which in our opinion are particularly worthy for the fact that they base their meaning on an immersiveness that is consubstantial with them and not reduced, as in other cases, to a mere expedient of involvement as an end in itself, with two mixed reality installations. “Turbulence: jamais vu” by Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts challenges the viewer to confront a movement and balance disorder, from which one of the authors suffers, which makes even the simplest gestures difficult and alienating, such as manipulating everyday objects arranged on a desk. “Impulse: playing with reality” by Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla also tries to recreate a condition of suffering, this time mental and not sensorial through a sophisticated interactive installation that conceptually investigates the overload of information and input from reality that in the most fragile subjects leads to extreme and self-harming behaviors.
Info:
www.labiennale.org/it/cinema/2024/venice-immersive
Graduated in art history at DAMS in Bologna, city where she continued to live and work, she specialized in Siena with Enrico Crispolti. Curious and attentive to the becoming of the contemporary, she believes in the power of art to make life more interesting and she loves to explore its latest trends through dialogue with artists, curators and gallery owners. She considers writing a form of reasoning and analysis that reconstructs the connection between the artist’s creative path and the surrounding context.
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