Anni Garza-Lau
The Human After, 2018
VR experience for HTC Vive
The Human After is an interactive VR environment focused in body agency. Its aim is to reflect the fragility of human perception when faced to technological stimuli. An all mighty machine recreates a simulation for every user (different every time) and decides what objects give the player to interact with. In a dystopian future, the only vestige of human beings are their digitalized and uploaded consciences now controlled by an artificial intelligence. When the user "awakens", her assigned robotic body undergoes different experiences while interacting with objects and characters referenced from science fiction. These experiences directly translate into the flesh (vertigo, resizing, confinement, isolation, etc.), confusing what is real and not, what is inside or outside and at some point the experience takes over user's will of physical movement. In order to achieve full body agency, a data gloves prototype was developed, accompanied by controls and 3 trackers.
Duration: 5:19 min.
Credits:
Original idea, design: Anni Garza Lau / Programming: José María Pérez Emilio Malagón, Marcos Flores, Bruno Díaz
3D Modeling (body): Juan de Dios León (Chopsticksstudio) / 3D Modeling (city, objects, characters): Patricio Hernández / Sound-composition: Riar Rizaldi / Data gloves: Hugo Vargas
Made as part of the residency program 2018 at Laboratorio de Inmersión y Realidades Mixtas | Centro de Cultura Digital | Fundación BBVA
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VIDEO LINK
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anni Garza Lau lives and works in Mexico City. Her artwork focuses on human-computer interactions in many levels, concerning the consequences on social, affective and political relationships built through technology. Since she has also worked as videogame designer, ubiquity and playfulness on devices are common themes in her installations or online works. The aim of her practice is to question the role of technology as part of our daily lives and to glimpse possible futures for it. Her works have been selected in festivals such as FILE (Sao Paulo), Toolkit (Venice), YICCA (Sofia), Unpainted (Munich), Arte Laguna (Venice), Periferica (Rome) and Transitio MX_05 & 06 (Mexico City). She has also received support from institutions like FONCA (Mexico), National Arts Center (Mexico), BBVA-Bancomer Foundation (Mexico) amoung others. As an Artist in Residence she has been in Werkleitz (EMARE-Göethe Institut / Halle, Germany) and Seoul Art Space Geumcheon (Seoul, South Korea). Her artwork has also been showcased in Canada, United States and South Korea.
If you are interested in exhibiting or viewing this artistic VR experience, please send an email to us.
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