Working with VR & POV | Rokolectiv 2016

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Working with VR & POV

Maria Guță

lecture/ presentation

16.9.2016

19.00

I have always been attracted by identity related topics and have often tried to explore in my work our capacity of building alter egos, walking the line between role playing and virtual identities. Self-representation has been a recurring theme throughout human existence and art history, but thanks to all the existing gadgets, social and hyper media, we are currently witnessing the biggest wave of identity/image-managing since humankind exists. We have the means to simulate any kind of identity for any given person. In the virtual space, one can take whatever shape, can live in whatever environment during whatever period of time. One can travel in time, change skins, teleport from one space to another.

The POV VR XXX installation, a project commissioned by POV Paper, was a first of a kind experience from several points of view. I had never before dealt with porn nor VR in my practice, so it was quite a challenge and a revelation at the same time. Shooting in 360° changed my perspective on things and all of my “know how” when dealing with a camera and what’s in front of it (in this case – all around it). From building up the concept to the final result, there were multiple exciting discoveries. But probably the most relevant one was simulating someone’s point of view in VR, which can be extended to concepts like out-of-body / inhabiting other bodies experiences. The four characters I created, together with their four corresponding “fantasies” were as many reasons for me (and implicitly for the audience) to try different skins, genders or sexual orientations.

Also, by immersing inside the videos in the same space and ambiance where they were shot would create an augmented reality effect that I found fascinating. This relates a lot to the main themes in my art practice, adding at the same time many more layers to it.