We are only partly real

This is a walk through version of a digital comission for Spike Island with Michelle Marie Forrest ( also on Axis )

Produced in collaboration with digital artist and researcher Stephen Gray, the commission seeks to explore the potential of Virtual Reality not only as a platform to exhibit art, but also as an artistic medium in itself.

Split into four interconnected zones, the virtual exhibition brings together real-world painting, drawing, sculpture and moving image; digital adaptations of real-world artworks; and new Virtual Reality artworks made specifically for this context. The result is a hybrid exhibition that uses Virtual Reality as a mechanism to explore artistic practice.

Inspired by an interest in the complexities of communication, Dutton and Forrest work with grids, data, text and colour, often embedding multiple references as cyphers within their work. The exhibition draws upon various filmic references – including Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar – as a means to investigate language and other forms of communication.

The notion of time is central to the commission, which features both a ‘daytime’ and ‘night-time’ version of the exhibition. Upon certain triggers, day turns into night, and viewers enter a dream-like state, where reality fades and imagination takes hold. This dual exhibition invites viewers to question their perception of reality, while acknowledging the potentials and pitfalls of Virtual Reality as a creative platform for both making and exhibiting art.

For the best experience, it is recommend  to downl the virtual exhibition to your computer which can be found here.

https://www.spikeisland.org.uk/programme/digital-commission/steve-dutton-and-michelle-marie-forrest/

There is also a version of the exhibition that is accompanied by an audio guide narrated by ‘us’, sharing additional insight and context around individual artworks.

The virtual commission is a pilot project by Spike Island and researcher Stephen Gray, aiming to create new and accessible virtual art spaces. The project is funded by the University of Bristol’s AHRC Impact Acceleration Award, and curated by Spike Island’s Assistant Curator: Artist Development and Engagement, Saphia Abrahamovitch-Venner.