Art and virtual reality: the ultimate immersion?

Technology has always had an impact on art. Graphics software hasn't eliminated canvases, but it has become a more common tool. Digital editing has enabled the explosion of video production online and in film, making it easier to manipulate without having to play with film.

What will be the next innovation where artists can express themselves? It's already here, and although it's still in its infancy, it's generating a lot of enthusiasm: virtual reality (VR). How can a technology that seems destined mainly for video games be one of artists' new tools? In many ways.

Cinema plunges into virtual reality

If there's one art form that strives to be one of immersion, it's the seventh. Cinema has done everything possible to immerse us, the spectators, in a story. A huge screen with loudspeakers capable of shaking the darkened room with the force of sound. And then, when that wasn't enough, there were the glasses that let us see the third dimension. Depth is once again the order of the day, and it's even possible to break the fourth wall by sending effects into the faces of those observing the scene.

Virtual reality brings a new approach, because the cinema is literally glued to the viewer's face. More and more young studios are interested in this narrative approach, which places the viewer at the heart of the action, looking wherever he or she chooses. This can also be a problem for scriptwriting. You have to make sure that the audience doesn't lose a key to the story by missing a look, a gesture, a set element or a prop handled by an actor. As a result, directors take three times as long to shoot this kind of work, because everything has to be choreographed and thought out in 360 degrees. What's more, the equipment is more expensive, as cameras and microphones are needed to capture everything.

Nonetheless, some people are taking the plunge and finding new ways of doing things. Filmmaker Pierre Friquet wanted to play on his own path and transpose his therapeutic work into the form of a VR film, close to the hallucinatory style of David Lynch and John Carpenter-style monsters. " Patterns " follows an individual undergoing hypnotherapy, plunging the viewer into a frightening universe. Immersive technology has never been improved as much as it is now, and the lag between movement and image is now imperceptible. And then, some are beginning to imagine interactive "Govie" films, a blend of the English terms "game" and "movie" that would come close to videogame experiences such as those of David Cage (Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, Detroit, etc.). The viewer could thus influence the actions, dialogues and even the ending of the story.

Drawing in the virtual world

However, while cinema seems to be the main beneficiary of virtual reality, we shouldn't forget that the other visual arts could also benefit.

Museums are already interested in virtual reality as a way of adding interaction and bringing well-known and lesser-known works to life. More and more artists are creating special virtual drawings and sculptures that give an ordinary place a layer of fantasy as soon as the headset is put on.

For example, on Berlin's Pariser Platz during the 2016 Biennale, viewers could see bizarre animal associations created by Quebec-based Jon Rafman: a rhinoceros swallowing a bear and an iguana doing the same with a sloth. In 2015, Italian painter Fabio Giampietro, who is no stranger to sensations of vertigo and immersion, created a work on paper depicting a city seen from the air. With a virtual reality headset, the observer experienced this sensation even more, finding himself floating above the drawn buildings.

And then, in 2016, the giant Google, again and again, created an app called Tilt Brush enabling you to literally draw in virtual reality with "materials" like ink, fire or snow. Many artists have begun experimenting with this application, or another, Gravity Sketch. The visual arts community is as enthusiastic about virtual reality as the film and documentary industries. And who knows? Maybe within the next 10 years, art classes will be using headsets to create or visit museum sections in class.

A few challenges remain, however. If works on traditional canvases survive the vagaries of time, how can we combat the obsolescence of technology? The virtual reality of 2017 will not be that of 2027. How can we ensure that our creations will be available for a long time to come? And then, for storytellers, we'll have to think hard about the challenges of virtual reality. We mustn't forget, as researcher Sandra Rodriguez reminds us on Radio-Canada, that people are first and foremost looking for stories. So we need to think of technology as a medium for conveying emotions, not as an end in itself, with its immersive, gadget-like aspect.

Illustration: Ars Electronica via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

References

Andrillon, Laure. "Les Arts Plastiques Tentés Par La Réalité Virtuelle." Le Monde.fr. Last updated June 13, 2017. http://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2017/06/12/l-art-plastique-tente-par-la-realite-virtuelle_5142843_1655012.html.

Bindé, Joséphine. "Enquête: Comment L'art Et La Réalité Virtuelle Dialoguent-ils?" Beaux Arts. Last updated: June 7, 2017. https://www.beauxarts.com/grand-format/la-realite-virtuelle-est-elle-le-futur-de-lart/.

"How Virtual Reality Will Change the Way Movies Are Produced." Konbini France. Last updated: September 2016. http://www.konbini.com/fr/entertainment-2/realite-virtuelle-realisation-films/.

Pierre Friquet - site - https://pierrefriquet.net/

"The Challenges Of Virtual Reality In Art." La Sphère | ICI Radio-Canada Première. Last updated: October 15, 2016. http://ici.radio-canada.ca/emissions/la_sphere/2016-2017/chronique.asp?idChronique=419284.