The Virtual Reality Experience for Oculus Quest will travel with iM konsthall, an immersive mobile gallery that will tour the landscapes of Northern Sweden, 2024
In 2022, I answered a residency call to develop and adapt my XR project “Rise of the Tidal Island Queens” to the stories and landscapes of Lapland, Sweden. The project is an ever evolving, site-specific work that dynamically adapts to each environment it inhabits, and during my residency at Moskosel Creative Lab/ Northern Sustainable Futures it developed into the VR work “Rise of the Ice Queens.”
During my stay, I visited the Ajtte Museum in Jokkmokk to research Sami traditions, 3d scanned the Northern environments and recorded 360 videos of Aurora to build the virtual world for the Island Queens covered in ice and snow and skies illuminated by Aurora. I was particularly curious about the role of women in Sami culture and read Ann – Helen Laestadius’s book Stolen, where she portrays a woman’s struggle to defend her heritage in a world where climate change looms and the tensions that arise when modern ideas come up against traditional culture.
In the Oculus Quest VR experience for iMkonsthall, visitors witness and can take part in a ritual performed by the “Ice Queens” under the skies of Aurora, and accompanied by a sound design of fellow artist in residence and experimental musician Christoph Zeckel.
View the VR Experience on the Styly platform
