Art and technology combine with new funding
360 Vision. Image courtesy of Create NSW.
Six artists are set to launch their new modern art tech projects as they share in $120,000 from Create NSW to develop Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (AR) immersive experiences.
April Phillips, Dr Andrew Burrell, Eugenie Lee, Andrew Christie, John A. Douglas and the Theatre Kantanka will be developing projects that primarily focus on the use of immersive reality technology to deliver stories, messages and experiences to users in this emerging art form.
The projects funded through the 360 VISION: Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Development Initiative include the exploration of dance movement, works for The National 2021 and even a sensory AR experience focusing on organ transplant recipients.
Minister for the Arts Don Harwin said that the funding encourages new innovation and greater participation in modern technological art and opens NSW to an increased diversity of art mediums that our talented artists can produce.
“Immersive reality art forms are still emerging in the industry and I am proud to support artists as they grow the body of work in NSW through this medium.
“The recipients join a great list of names supported in the past 3 years of the fund, including internationally-acclaimed artist Lynette Walworth, whose latest VR works have seen her join the prestigious Sundance Institute board of trustees.
“This fund will allow a new wave of artists to extend their main practice and I’m thrilled that Aboriginal and emerging young artists are amongst those exploring the realms of VR and AR projects supported by the NSW Government.
“It is fantastic to see the fresh approaches and perspectives to using emerging technologies that come through this fund, which are set to expose audiences to immersive journeys of new creativity,” Mr Harwin said.
Funding recipients for the 360 VISION: Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality Development Initiative for the Arts 2018:
- ‘Aboriginal VR Creative Lab’, April Phillips (Regional NSW), $20,000 – April Phillips will gain knowledge in VR and AR technologies to assist NSW Aboriginal artists and youth to transition towards new technologies in creative practice. The aim is to encourage exposure, experimentation and knowledge.
- ‘Every act of reading performs the work’, University of Technology Sydney – Dr Andrew Burrell (Sydney Metro), $20,000 – A research and development period for a creative partnership between artists Agatha Gothe-Snape and Dr Andrew Burrell into affordances of user experience and interaction design in the development of a new virtual reality work for final exhibition at The National 2021.
- ‘Magic Carpet Project’, Theatre Kantanka Incorporated (Western Sydney), $20,000 – Magic Carpet will be a performance installation that employs VR film to tell the stories of cultural interchange, as told by storytellers from diverse cultural backgrounds. The first stage of this major work will be in 360-degree vision, telling two stories utilising performance and VR technology.
- ‘Mirror Me: VR experiment in empathy for pelvic pain’, Eugenie Lee (Sydney Metro), $20,000 – For the research and development stage of a new interactive VR project that will draw participants into aesthetic experiences that simulate what it feels like to live with pelvic pain – a misunderstood, primarily female illness.
- ‘Virtually Impossible’, Andrew Christie & Sprung Integrated Dance Theatre, Ballina Shire Council (Regional NSW), $19,744.00 – Virtually Impossible is a collaboration between Western Sydney artist Andrew Christie and SPRUNG Integrated Dance Theatre, using 3D scanning, modelling and printing to extend and explore the dancer’s capacity for movement in the virtual realm and back again, through performance, dance and a multidisciplinary exhibition.
- VR pilot for future exhibitions, John A. Douglas (Bayside Council, Western Sydney), $19,020 – Research and development of an interactive VR project that will be integrated with a sensory AR experience. The work will assist in understanding the complexities of organ transplant recipients and will be tested and made available in a range of platforms suitable for multiple venues and regional arts exhibitions.
Published: 17 May 2019