Art / Exhibitions
Seeing the world as though you weren’t human: inside Undershed’s immersive new exhibition
An overarching theme of Undershed‘s immersive new exhibition SENTIENTS is that of animals. In its VR and video game creation, you can hunt through the night as an owl, navigate a war-torn city as a dog, explore a flooded river, play as wildfire in a future version of climate-ravaged LA or travel the universe as an entire galaxy.
It is a visual and experiential delight that, for lead curator Amy Rose, “feels like it’s all about the animals that we live alongside, that we have ideas about but are quite separate from in our human lives.
“All these different forms come together to find a new way to encounter the world.”
is needed now More than ever
Featuring works from Marshmallow Laser Feast, David O’Reilly, Alice Bucknell, Alan Kwan and Demelza Kooij, the exhibition is due to open on Saturday at the Anchor Road-based venue.
The project “started with a completely blank slate” according to Rose, and was shaped by asking young people about what was most important to them.
The result is a piece that glides from climate change to conflict to animal life.
“I was really reminded how sometimes as adults we shy away from big conversations because either we’re scared of them or maybe jaded,” Rose said. “Or we start to feel that we can’t have those conversations anymore.
Alan Kwan’s exhibit Scent allows you to explore an immersive world where souls whisper to you – photo: Cara Peters
“Talking to teenagers was really refreshing because they were all saying how thinking about the experience of living through conflict and war, which is what Alan Kwan’s piece is exploring, feels extremely relevant to now.
“Various members of the group had family members who had experienced conflict zones. And so, for them it was bringing something to life, but from this very different perspective.”
The exhibition will be experienced through VR headsets and interactive video game exhibits. For Rose, this departure from the traditional gallery format is valuable.
“I hope this will feel different for audiences, in comparison to going to a gallery where there are paintings on the wall,” she said.
“I love traditional art; my background is art. But I do believe there is something unique about the opportunity to interact that gives you a different experience and memory of that story”.
Artist Alan Kwan’s exhibit Scent is one such video game-based piece, though from his experience “teenagers don’t see experimental games as separate from art. It’s an everyday thing on the internet and part of their everyday life”.
His contribution allows players to explore an immersive world where souls whisper to them.
“I guess for most video games, commercial mainstream games, they demand you to understand something,” he said.
Demelza Kooij’s Wolves from Above follows a pack of wolves – photo: Demelza Kooij
“They have a clear picture of how the system works and how to game the system and how to win. But for my game, there’s no real solution.
“You don’t win the war or finish the game”.
“Just like in any other art forms, you don’t have to understand it. And there doesn’t have to be an ending. It’s experiential. You just have to feel it”.
Demelza Kooij’s piece Wolves from Above is a video exhibit showing top-down footage of a pack of wolves – “a perfect introduction to the world of animals that feels slightly mysterious”, according to Rose.
“They are real wolves,” said Kooij. “And what it may have in common with the other pieces, beyond the canine species, is that it is meant to raise questions rather than answer anything.
“Whereas adults who’ve been educated about wolves think that they’re scary and dangerous, when this film has been displayed on a floor children will lie down and pretend to stroke them.
“The main purpose is to tease people into breaking with their assumptions of the animals and maybe even our relationship with the wild.”
SENTIENTS will run from Saturday until September 13 at Undershed.
Main photo: Alan Kwan
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