VR Gallery Manifesto

I thought it would be a fun but informative exercise to create a set of rules that governs the creation of a VR art gallery. Of course, these rules may change as my ideas develop and whilst they initially appear quite restrictive, they do allow for a lot of freedom in exhibition design. The idea is that I will test each design against the rules to see how the design and the rules stand up to the process...


VR GALLERY MANIFESTO

1. The gallery must not affect the meaning of a work of art in any way.
2. The gallery must not detract from the inherent value of a work of art.
3. The gallery must not impinge on the view of a work of art if it contravenes the first two rules.
4. The gallery can be used to reinforce the meaning of a work of art but must be done under the instruction of the artist and must not contravene the second and third rule.
5. The gallery should always aim to add value to a work of art as long as it does not contravene the first rule.
6. The gallery can be of any shape or size as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
7. A work of art can be displayed on any surface as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
8. A work of art can be viewed at any angle as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
9. A work of art can be viewed in any environment as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
10. A work of art can be displayed in environments of any colour as long as it does not contravene the first two rules.
11. The gallery design can encompass elements of decoration, exploration and discovery as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
12. Every effort must be made to install and exhibit works of art in a way that is conducive to the viewing experience as long as it does not contravene the first two rules.
13. A work of art can be displayed at any size as long as it does not contravene the first three rules.
14. Each work of art (including a sequence and series) must demand the viewers undivided attention and its neighbours should not be visible during this interaction.
15. The viewing experience should be intuitive.
16. The viewing experience must not be greater than the exhibition.

If you are reading this blog and feel you can add something to my research then please comment… even if you are correcting me or don’t agree with something that I say.

Khayalan - University of Chester

Art and Design students from the University of Chester have staged a VR art exhibition, using Second Life as a platform to include the wider public.

 


Images: https://1625285.wixsite.com/uniofchester/kuang-s-diary?lightbox=dataItem-jwkgc9up

The supporting blog contains a great overview of the project and can be accessed here.

It is great to see that some of my findings have been identified by someone else in a completely separate project. For example, Chris Millward (University of Chester, 2019), supervisor for the project says "With physical space often in high demand, sometimes it can be difficult for students and staff to experiment with artistic ideas or push the realms of what is possible. The virtual campus that we are creating allows us to explore ideas without “real life” costs or demands on limited space. This project focusses on visualising space and virtually curating exhibitions" which is one of the core aims of my project.

Also, statements from their students, such as - “Through this project we have gained experience in designing, building and curating an exhibition of our own work and although in virtual reality, these experiences can be carried over into the real world and will put us in a good position for when we reach our final year exhibition.” (University of Chester, 2019) - supports the benefits I identified, such as participants increase in confidence in their own work and how it can give a very real sense of learning new [curatorial] skills from the experience.

Interestingly, this is not their first attempt at virtual exhibitions. It appears that they created a similar exhibition back in 2011, but without the access via VR headsets, of course. However, some of the findings and benefits are quite similar!

Ref:
University of Chester. (2019). Second Life project showcases the best in new Art and Design. [online] Available at: https://www1.chester.ac.uk/news/second-life-project-showcases-best-new-art-and-design [Accessed 10 Jul. 2019].

If you are reading this blog and feel you can add something to my research then please comment… even if you are correcting me or don’t agree with something that I say.

Sustain at Free Range

VR previsualisation for Sustain exhibition at Free Range in London. UE4 view... The images on the wall are there just to give an idea how a certain sized print will look in the space (ranging from A4 to twice that of A0).

The actual space during set-up... it turned out that I put the roof on at the incorrect angle and made it too high in the simulation.


The view of the final exhibition.


If you are reading this blog and feel you can add something to my research then please comment… even if you are correcting me or don’t agree with something that I say.

The Grand Vestibule - Update

I thought I should update you on the progress of the graduate exhibition at Blackpool Winter Gardens, that I used VR to help me design. The exhibition opened on the 6th June. I have been in a further three exhibitions since and this is the first time I have had to bring this blog up-to-date. The exhibition was called PANIC.

Firstly - here is a video of the VR version of the proposed exhibition design that I made to help the graphic designers create a design that worked with the panels and space....

This is from my previous post...


This is a photo of the actual exhibition and private view...


If you are reading this blog and feel you can add something to my research then please comment… even if you are correcting me or don’t agree with something that I say.