Credit: Goliath – Playing with Reality by Anagram This one day exhibition plays with the boundaries of gaming and storytelling to explore the intricate tapestry of human existence. You are invited to explore the profound potential of immersive experiences to foster empathy, understanding, and compassion through stepping into the mind, bodies and identities of another.
‘Embodied Realities’ brings together an array of captivating projects that playfully unravel stories through multisensory storytelling, offering profound insights into the diversity of human experience across mental health and identity. From the poignant exploration of gender dysphoria to the thought-provoking journey into the depths of psychosis, this exhibition takes you on an immersive tour of the hidden worlds of feeling that reside within us all.
Projects
Body of Mine: Cameron Kostopoulos
An interactive VR exploration of gender dysphoria, trans identity, and our individual relationships with our bodies. Combining immersive technology with stories of transgender individuals, the intimate experience asks audiences to step into the body of another gender, for an emotionally-charged combination of dance, animation, and interactive storytelling.
Goliath: Playing with Reality by Anagram
A 25-minute animated VR experience about schizophrenia, gaming and connection, presented here as a virtual reality installation of the expanded game world of Goliath. Through mind-bending animation, explore the limits of reality and a true story of mental health and the power of gaming. Echo (narrated by Tilda Swinton) guides you through the many realities of Goliath, a man who spent years isolated in psychiatric institutions but finds connection in multiplayer games. Combining heart-felt dialogue, mesmerising visuals and symbolic interactions, weave through multiple worlds to uncover Goliath’s poignant story.
Antipsychotic by Matt McCorkle
Dive in and journey through the mind of someone with bipolar disorder. This immersive experience marries poetic reflections and personal narratives with captivating audio-reactive visuals and evocative soundscapes, set to the beat of poignant music. It’s more than just listening; it’s feeling and exploring the nuanced challenges of mental health. With user-friendly game controls and a tactile haptic system, participants are urged to delve deep, navigating a landscape rich with personal experiences. Utilizing cutting-edge XR technologies and spatial audio, Antipsychotic isn’t just a story – it’s a harmonious blend of introspection and raw emotion, offering a profound glimpse into pre and post-treatment sentiments.
Noösphere by Tom Buckley
An immersive sensory environment developed in response to the Embodied Realities exhibition. Derived from the Greek noos (mind) and sphaira (sphere), the noosphere is the sphere of human thought and consciousness, especially in relation to its influence on the biosphere and in relation to evolution.
Enter into a synaesthetic world of swirling light and soothing spatial music that combines in a bioluminescent symphony, exploring the connective between individual collective consciousness, the environment and the biosphere. You are invited melt into the space, to stretch, relax and to give your body what it needs.
Deep by Owen Harris and Niki Smit
A breath controlled virtual reality experience that invites players to navigate through a serene and poetic underwater world. Movement is controlled by slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing which soothes and relieves anxiety in the player. Since 2016, research partners at the Games for Emotional and Mental Health Lab, Radboud University have conducted several studies demonstrating the efficacy of DEEP as an intervention tool for young people with anxiety, including: its role in long term efficacy in reducing anxiety and enhancing long term efficacy via a full randomised control trial, and its ability to reduce disruptive classroom behaviour in children with complex needs. The experience is now being applied to a range of conditions including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Long COVID and Functional Neurological Disorders.
Asymmetrically Distributed Hyper-Dynamism by Simon Wilkinson, BRiGHTBLACK
BRiGHTBLACK present a video game artwork about ADHD, a science fiction playable podcast built into a retro arcade cabinet, set within a dream, documenting a day on ADHD medication.
As the drug kicks in and the symptoms disappear one by one, the artists explore the comedic juxtaposition between an ADHD brain which finds itself in a world where it can thrive vs one where it is doomed to cause annoyance.
Please note: There are limited spaces available for a number of the virtual reality experiences. Sign up times will be available on the day. We recommend arriving early to avoid disappointment.
There will be an interactive panel discussion at 3.30pm – 5pm drawing on themes within the Embodied Realities exhibition. Full details here
Free entry.
Organiser
Curated and produced by Sarah Ticho for Dreamy Place