The Venice Festival, known as "Venice Immersive," has become an unimaginable experience this year. Visitors to this festival are faced with a collection of innovative and captivating performances that depict everything from the ruins of the West Coast to the streets of 17th century Amsterdam.
From Imagination to Reality
The first art installation that catches the eye upon entering this festival is a chest-high metal box equipped with a peephole and two speakers. Looking inside this box, you see yourself from a height of about 20 feet. In this image, other guests are passing by, and even a few pigeons are sitting on the ground. But when one of these passersby stops for a moment too long next to you, the urge to look through the peephole at them is clearly felt. At this moment, the experience turns into a lynching nightmare.
This passerby is not real - or rather, he is only real in the box. He is wearing a blue coat and narrates a story with a heavy French accent that is hardly mentioned in lavish gatherings. He asks me why I have so much time to stare at this peephole for a few continuous minutes. "Why do people keep looking inside this box?" he asks. "What do they hope to see? This is not reality."
Foresight in the Virtual World
This festival is much more than mere entertainment and amusement. With a focus on issues such as climate change and its impacts, the performances address serious human challenges. These exhibitions are not only about technology and new media but remind us that the virtual world can help us gain a deeper insight into the real world.
Even though the festival has ended, its artworks will remain in the minds of the visitors. Can these tools guide us towards a better understanding of reality, or do they merely emphasize unreal phenomena?
