VR exhibition launched in 4 galleries across the world: “OPEN” by Doug Aitken
Doug Aitken is an American artist known for his experiments incorporating video, photography, sculpture, performance, and now also XR. His latest exhibition titled “OPEN” has launched on February 15, 2022, simultaneously in 303 Gallery (New York), Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich, Regen Projects in Los Angeles, and Victoria Miro in London. This epic VR launch took place at Frieze LA — a leading international art fair largely focused on contemporary art.
The exhibition by the artist is available to view at all four galleries’ physical spaces, where Oculus headsets show “Vortic VR”, a new virtual reality platform intended to support galleries and institutions with the highest quality digital experiences for their collectors and audiences.
Superbright — the immersive technology studio that I am working for, along with our key partner mentioned above, VorticXR, made this ambitious project possible. As the project manager working with the international team of creators, engineers, and clients (in this case: Vortic and Doug Aitken Workshop), I’ve spent a few months in this impressive virtual space, watching and helping it to change and get more and more refined and flawless.
Developing an ambitious XR-project: my perspective
One of the greatest parts of what Superbright develops for Vortic is the opportunity of bringing people together to observe and discuss art in VR. I think I will remember for a lifetime how Superbright’s and Doug Aitken studio’s teams first met in this space to have the client review of the virtual space. That was a real artistic review of the exhibition space: apart from the fact that physically we all were in different parts of LA and NY.
Yet we were still there, in our avatar bodies, talking to each other and examining every tiny detail. Doug Aitken and his team are great partners in terms of how demanding and detail-oriented they are.
Thanks to the Doug Aitken Workshop team being in a good way very nitpicky, we took the VR capabilities to the very next level in terms of textures, lighting, reflections system, sound design, and optimization for different platforms: VR, mobile, and web.
Another great point for me to learn from was how diverse the content of the exhibition is. There are lightboxes, 3D sculptures and moving installations, textile artworks, and even some hidden easter egg that I can’t reveal until you check the project out yourself.
Check it out
Since Vortic VR is currently in Beta, it is available not through the Oculus store but on-demand. However, you can already explore the exhibition on the vortic.art web platform and mobile app Vortic Collect.
About Superbright and what I am doing there:
Superbright is an award-winning studio working with nascent technologies, combining the physical with the digital to create beautiful interactive experiences. I am working at Superbright as the Project Manager since July 2021. Below please see just some of our projects, and check out our website and the latest showreel below.
