 | | Rachel Rossin, Man Mask, 2016 (still). Stereoscopic 360˚ video. Courtesy the artist |
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New York, NY…The New Museum and its longtime affiliate Rhizome today announce the launch of “First Look: Artists’ VR,” a new virtual reality exhibition in the form of a free mobile VR app for iOS and Android, featuring six newly commissioned works by leading contemporary artists: Peter Burr with Porpentine Charity Heartscape, Jeremy Couillard, Jayson Musson, Jon Rafman, Rachel Rossin, and Jacolby Satterwhite. “First Look: Artists’ VR” is supported by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
“First Look: Artists’ VR” is made available in the iOS, Google Play, and Gear VR (coming soon) app stores as an app of the same name. Created by EEVO, the app is free to download for any iOS or Android phone, and will be stocked with all six commissions upon launch; the app requires Android 4.4 or later, or iOS 9.0 or later. Visit http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/online for more information on the exhibition, and see below for instructions on how to download and access the works.
The six works range from fantastic original worlds to moving social commentary and include an astral memorial to victims of police violence (Musson); a guided meditation through landscapes taken from the game Call of Duty: Black Ops, drained of violence and transformed into an ethereal dreamworld (Rossin); a flythrough of an industrial nightclub (Satterwhite); a portrait of a woman navigating an unfolding labyrinth (Burr with Heartscape); a simulation of the afterlife (Couillard); and an unsettling dive into an alternate world rife with avatars both banal and magical (Rafman).
Established in 2012 and co-organized by the New Museum and Rhizome, First Look is a digital art commissioning and exhibition program that has supported over thirty-five works to date (all viewable online at http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/online). While previous First Look exhibitions have focused on browser-based art, this special series exclusively presents newly commissioned art for mobile VR. This first-of-its-kind initiative from an art museum seeks to elevate VR in an artistic context as a rich emerging medium whose possibilities are still being tested and harnessed. This effort aligns with the New Museum and Rhizome’s joint mission to nurture early artistic engagements with new digital mediums and extends their early support of VR presentations.
“As we approach the New Museum’s 40th Anniversary, I am pleased to be collaborating with our expert partners at Rhizome to further the Museum’s long history of supporting artists breaking ground in new mediums. The six featured artists are representative of a new generation for whom VR is an accessible, if still very new medium; their works reflect thoughtfully on the distinct perspectives it can offer. The Museum is among the first to consider one’s mobile device as a platform not just to enhance the gallery experience but to experience art,” said Lauren Cornell, Curator & Associate Director, Technology Initiatives, at the New Museum.
“First Look: Artists’ VR” continues the New Museum’s early support for virtual reality art. In 2015, Phantom (2015) by Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, a VR work for Oculus Rift, was included in the New Museum Triennial “Surround Audience,” curated by Cornell and pioneering video artist Ryan Trecartin. Since 2014, the institution’s NEW INC, the first museum-led incubator, has counted many VR artists and start-ups in its membership community, established the first Virtual Reality Fellowship, and in 2016, inaugurated Versions, an annual conference on emergent realities.
HOW TO USE “FIRST LOOK: ARTISTS’ VR”
To experience this app:- Download the free First Look: Artists’ VR app for iPhone or Android. You must have iOS 9 or later, or Android 4.4 or later. The First Look: Artists’ VR app will also be available for Gear VR, downloadable at the Oculus store. (See additional device compatibility information below.)
- Connect to Wi-Fi to avoid data charges.
- Open the First Look: Artists’ VR app and search through content.
- Choose a work to download or stream.
- Use a Google Cardboard or another viewer, or simply turn the phone to landscape mode and hold it up to your eyes, to experience all 360 degrees of the video.
- If possible, wear headphones. If you do not have headphones, turn up the volume on your device.
Device compatibility:
iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Air Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi + Cellular, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular, and iPod touch (6th generation).
Any modern Android device, newer than two years old.
SUPPORT
“First Look: Artists’ VR” is supported by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. The mobile app was created by EEVO.
ABOUT NEW MUSEUM
The New Museum is the only museum in New York City exclusively devoted to contemporary art. Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world. From its beginnings as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the inauguration of its first freestanding building on the Bowery designed by SANAA in 2007, the New Museum continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.
ABOUT RHIZOME
Rhizome is an organization based on the internet that commissions, presents, and preserves digital art. Founded in 1996 as an intimate email list connecting some of the first artists to work online and now—twenty years later—a thriving nonprofit with robust, multi-tiered programming, Rhizome has played an integral role in the history, definition, and growth of art engaged with technology and the internet. Since 2003, Rhizome has been an independent affiliate in residence at the New Museum in New York City.
ABOUT EEVO
EEVO is a VR cloud services platform that makes it easy for content creators to launch their own native VR applications across all hardware ecosystems. Founded in 2014, EEVO has been focused on solving the most challenging problems involved in distributing VR content. EEVO’s apps have featured content from Stan Lee, The Empathy Project, Nas, and others. |
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