photo of the SIGGRAPH 2016 Art Gallery © ACM SIGGRAPH
Traveling internationally over the holidays or in the new year? Don’t skip the art!
In honor of the approaching SIGGRAPH 2019 Art Gallery submissions deadline (on 29 January 2019), we’ve curated an around-the-world adventure for globe-trotting readers to explore art exhibitions that have us dreaming of the always-expanding possibilities of immersive, digital art.
1. United States: Meow Wolf
Of course, the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery will also take place in the U.S. – but it’s definitely not the only immersive art gallery in the country!
Meow Wolf is an artist collective and production company that creates large-scale, interactive, multimedia installations. Their first permanent installation, the THEA Award-winning “House of Eternal Return,” launched in March 2016 with support from “Game of Thrones” creator George R.R. Martin. It is currently based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but plans to expand to Denver, Colorado, in 2019 and Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2020.
2. China: ‘Expect the Unexpected‘
This immersive digital art exhibition from GeeksArt, “Expect the Unexpected,” will be open from 23 December 2018 to 10 March 2019 in Shenzhen, China.
The exhibition aims to create an immersive space that includes the universe, nature, cities, and other elements using digital technology for sensing, networks, light, and sound. Through use of technology, the universe and the nature can be turned into “living art,” and audiences can gain a sense of the continuity of the fantasy world that they do not usually perceive. This might even trigger visitors to think about the relationship between humans and society.
3. Japan: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM
The MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: teamLab Borderless opened in early 2018 and has since become a hugely popular digital art museum in Tokyo, Japan.
teamLab’s mission is to explore how humans relate to nature in an age when much of our life is governed by technology. Their permanent art installation seeks to remove boundaries and allow museum-goers to explore a fictional, beautiful world on their own terms.
4. France: ‘Claude Monet: The Water Lily Obsession’
A new VR experience at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, France, transports visitors to Claude Monet’s Giverny home and garden. A roughly eight-minute immersion traces Monet’s famous “Water Lilies” painting from inception to exhibition. “Claude Monet: The Water Lily Obsession” is being presented from 14 November 2018 to 11 March 2019.
5. England: ‘We Live in an Ocean of Air’
Underneath the Saatchi Gallery in west London, visitors can walk into a forest clearing where a giant sequoia tree grows.
“We Live in an Ocean of Air” is a multisensory installation by art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, which runs until 20 January 2019. The work pushes VR technology to its limits. Visitors are hooked into a harness that contains the computer that will drive their experience. The headset and various sensors, including an ear clip that monitors heart rate, are attached, and then visitors enter the experience.
Have an exhibit you’re dying to visit? Share it in the comments! Plus, discover more about the SIGGRAPH 2019 Art Gallery.
