Hello Dear Ones,
I’ve just come back and the fog is slowly lifting from the completely surreal dream which was Venice Biennale College Cinema Immersive.
Mystis was one of 12 projects invited from around the globe to the program. The cohort represented the UK, France, Italy, Venezuela, Brazil, Germany, Colombia, USA, Ukraine, Taiwan, Greece, Samoa and Australia. The diversity and urgency of the stories was remarkable. From deeply personal narratives like Mystis, which explores grief and a descent into our inner Underworld, to works addressing past, present and future wars, environmental collapse and systemic crises across the globe. Each project carried incredible depth and ambition, and a desire to effect deep change, each in their own way.
For almost 10 days, we lived, slept, dined and worked on the very small island off Venice named San Servolo, which used to be an insane asylum, and where perhaps a few ghosts still wander… There we dove into our project’s concepts, stories, productions, etc with some of the sharpest and most brilliant minds of the industry. Each tutor lent their generosity and brilliance to challenging the project, helping it become the best version of itself it can possibly be. Under the visionary leadership of Michel Reilhac, the Biennale creates rare opportunities like this and champions immersive art at the highest level. I also truly could not imagine a better stage for this than Venice: the most ethereal, moody, dramatic, haunted place, where the past echoes in every corner.
While VR is undergoing a sort of winter after its earlier hype cycle a couple of years ago, I have no doubt that it is alive and well, and the art being made in this medium is nothing short of astounding. While it was coined as “empathy machine” in its earlier days by Chris Milk, the truth is more nuanced and less obvious, but its potential for impact is profound. We were given access to the library and catalogue of the work presented in previous editions of the festival in Venice Biennale Immersive, and I attempted to FEAST on the opportunity and watch as many VR works as I could, and was at times delighted, amused, deeply moved, reduced to a puddle of tears, frustrated, moving around space like an idiot trying to find my way out of several mazes, joyful, awestruck, utterly delighted and all other emotions amazing art can make one feel. The more I see and experience, the more I fall in love with immersive storytelling in its many costumes.
The strength of the program and of Venice’s curation is also that it is completely non-didactic. It celebrates the medium in all its forms. There is no single way to make work, to interact or not interact, and this openness creates a stunning diversity of voices within a medium that is still being written, borrowing from other established forms such as cinema, games and theatre.
This writing is clearly turning into a love letter to the program, but I am leaving more inspired, energised and grateful than I have been in a long time. Every single person who made this program possible or was participating in it was deeply kind, caring, and brilliant, and I feel grateful to be part of this small but mighty emerging storytelling industry.
I also want to thank the incredible creative and producing partner Ruth Mariner, fellow VR witch and Alina Mikhaleva, the brilliant producing power who has been accompanying Mystis since its younger days. Now onto the mammoth task of getting Mystis made into the world.
✨ What’s now ~ What’s Next ✨
In addition to Venice, the past month has been filled with other lovely things !
I decided to take part in XRCC, the first online edition of the Berlin based hackathon. I decided to participate as a solo creator and to make a 2-minute VR short film inspired by one of the chapters of Mystis. The film was selected to be a finalist, and then won silver - second to a really magnificent immersive documentary about a Ukrainian refugee. Another highlight in the storytelling section was the Heir of Kutch, an experience exploring preservation of endangered Indian craft traditions through immersive storytelling. More about the finalists here.
And last but not least, for the last few months, Loop Art has been hosting us in their online verse every week for their art critique / longest residency to date, led by Joey Zaza. It’s been a joy to spend this time floating in a digital world with wonderful artists from all over the world. My work is called Katabasis and you can visit it here straight from your browser in web XR - click on the Seahorse to travel through realms!
Our collective work is now part of the Wrong Biennale, which explores what art becomes when technology stops being a tool and starts being the muse. Here is the portal to the work
Thank you for reading and I wish you all a peaceful, joyful and restful holiday season.
Arrivederci! ✨❄️🎄
You’re incredible!!