Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Coventry University
‘VISITOR’, ‘Vermilion Lake’ and - ‘where the bears are sleeping’ are a series of installations with video, sound and a computer game environment. The work toured to venues across the UK in 2011-2012
‘VISITOR’ was inspired by Gibson’s & Martelli’s travels to the snow-driven mountains of the Canadian Rockies and developed following research at The Banff Arts Centre in Canada. Vermilion Lake comprises a full-scale replica of a trapper’s cabin, housing an interactive virtual environment. A companion moving image piece, where the bears are sleeping, depicts monochromatic imagery of glaciers, forests and frozen lakes. In both works, either a friendly or malevolent force is suggested, evoking the hunter being hunted, the tracker being tracked. Employing techniques used in video games, bringing exterior virtual space into the physical gallery space, the exhibition plays with our apprehension of different forms of reality.
‘VISITOR’ developed a new and experimental multi-media project for public presentation and was developed through research into the liminal screen at the Banff New Media Institute in Canada, providing professional development into CAVE, stereoscopic and Human Computer interfaces with a number of specialists and scholars in the field. The aim of the project was to give viewers unique experiences, heightening perceptions and bringing the exterior virtual space into the interior physical space. This conceptual shift moved Gibson’s practice forward from a performance background into the 3D world and video, repositioning traditional artistic activities into the new spaces of games and virtual worlds.
The ‘VISITOR’ project received funding from the Arts Council, a Henry Moore Foundation Commission and support from the Banff Arts Centre in Canada. The project toured nationally in association with artsdepot and with it workshops were delivered in Unreal game engine technology and motion capture technologies. Bringing together sound artists, engineers, computer programmers, created a novel Human Computer Interface; a boat with oars developed as an haptic device to engage with the work. Audience figures reached 35,000 visitors at 5 national venues.
