bodhi-matthews

[bodhi-matthews]

Travelling While Black

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTfS86T25Lw

In Travelling While Black the experience opens in a 360 video with interviews of people that experienced travelling during segration and the the safe spaces you could stop at. The back drop is a diner filled with people in current day. the experience then switches into a animated world as you are transported back i time. As a VR documentary experience it works well providing a different look at greenbook travelling. I especially enjoyed the story telling aspect with real people. It feels like you are there hearing there stories in person. 

[bodhi-matthews]

On The Morning You Wake

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/5334662579895130/

(Watched in VR in class)

This artwork documents the true experience of a ballistic missile warning text sent to the islands of Hawaii. The text was a mistake however is inspired this artwork where in you wake to realise you have 10 minutes to live. experience a community as they go through the emotions and disbelief that they end is imminent. In the voice over they go through how they are going to tell their children and possible places to take shelter.

[bodhi-matthews]

Home After War VR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF1fUT-NXHc

In Home After War you experience a home after the devastation of war as you move throughout the house the owner Ahmaied tells you of the struggles with bombing booby trapping and the perils of moving in after the war. You can hear the desperation and the pain Ahmaied feels as he speaks of how his son died. and having to move forward after his death. 

[bodhi-matthews]

Anne Frank House VR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzq5Fu-2-Wc

Anne Frank House is a interactive recreation of the space Anne Frank survived in for 2 years along with 8 other jewish people in hiding. I found this to be a great use of the medium as you truly can experience the tiny space they lived a the desperation of their situation. Coupled with the voice over of Anne franks diary entries it was very moving and emotive.

[bodhi-matthews]

Notes On Blindness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb5DwAZIQZw

Notes On Blindness is the a VR inspired by the tapes of a man (John Hull) who started to document is experiences of the world on audio casset tapes. the experience is broken up into six parts in each you are guided through the recording as you experience how John takes in the world ‘beyond sight’. He describes the world through sound, touch  and feeling.

Visually you experience glimmers of blue light and shapes that correspond with the audio.  as each sounds is a point of activity.

The concept is very interesting to me as VR makes it possible to understand what the world would be like if you were blind. A truly unique ability of the medium. 

[bodhi-matthews]

We Live Here - Alfrobel

We Live Here VR POV Gameplay

We Live Here documents the loss of dignity and hope felt by people experiencing homelessness. The interactive VR experience documents the life of Rocky, a middle aged woman who finds herself having to abandon her campsite and treasured belongings as the police raid and destroy the encampment. 

You are placed inside her tent after she has abandoned it surrounded by her possession. As you look around you notice the objects are interactive and as you pick up each item you are told a different story from each part of her life as narrated by her. 

The first story is a memory of her meeting a homeless man as a child and her mother. She has the same reaction as many would; pity and disassociation. A feeling like that could never happen to me. 

We are then led back to her youth as a flower child of the 1970s and her marriage to her ex husband on the back of a Harley Davidson. 

 We also see her dreams such as when we pick her music box shaped like a house and she imagines her life with a family in a home. 

The finale is a transition to her dream job of bronco taming out on a ranch. Here her narration becomes emotional as laments what she has lost. The artstyle is beautiful. This is probably the moment that evoked the most emotion for myself as you really feel her loss. 

The objective of the artwork I would say is to help people empathise with people experiencing homelessness. Too often homeless people are written off by society as ‘drug addicts’ or mentally ill. However, with Rocky we see a put together woman, her tent is neat and organised and she has led a life just like many of us. It is purely bad luck and circumstance that has led to her being homeless. After we have become attached to the sentiment and meaning behind each object the scene ends with a policeman and a sanitation officer disposing of all her possessions. Once again conveying the lack of respect and dignity afforded to people who are homeless. 

The VR aspect of the work is used well. We get to experience the lack of space in her tent and are transported into each story by physically picking up each item. However, does the medium add to the purpose of the artwork? I’m not sure. The counter example I will give is the movie Nomad Land which also used community based art to convey the experience of homeless nomad in america. This achieves the immersion and empathy aspects in a very successful way. While I think ‘We Live Here’ is successful as well, does VR do a better job than film could. I'm not sure.