Sunyata, 2023
VR experience for Oculus QUEST 1 & 2
Sunyata places virtual technology in a natural environment, which leads the viewer from real dunes to a simulated space, challenging the viewer’s point of view by means of mixed reality and hand tracking technology. Inspired by the concept of “Endlessness” in the “Avatamsaka Sutra“ from the Buddhist view of space; the world is not a single entity. It is a multiplicity of worlds overlapping each other, intertwined, and interminable. Under such context, material space is no longer limited by physics, and “even three thousand worlds can be subsumed into a single grain of dust.”
Sand stands as a metaphor of the material world. Sunyata refers to this, as well as imagery of matter that simultaneously straddles virtual and real space. Tiny grains of sand may have been huge formations, rocky terrain stretching for miles, or caves sheltering our ancestors. After millennia of weathering, they become rocks, then stones, then grains of sand, and eventually particles. In Sunyata, sand acts as an interactive object for the viewer, moving between macro and micro scales, Real and virtual. Asking the viewer: “How is matter possible? How is virtuality possible?
Credit:
Artist, Director | Tuan Mu
VR Interactive Software Developer | Lin Hung
Sound Designer | Chen Lin-Shuang
Filmmaker | YUAN STUDIO Hsu Po-Yen
VR Screen Recorder | Chang Yu-Cheng
Performer | Mohammad Umar Afzai Ai Mo-Er, nainai, Tuan Tsang-Tsang
Equipment Support | Juan Po-Yuan, Lin Hung, Ray He
English Translator | Alex Stoner, Ray He
Special Thanks | Lin Zi-Yun, Liu Wen-Hao, Lu Wei, Ray He
Duration: 6mins, Video
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VIDEO LINK
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Tuan Mu (Taiwan, b. 1994) is an artist and independent curator based in Taipei. After graduating from Taipei National University of the Arts with a major in Ink Painting, he began seeking ways in which new media could reinterpret the unique worldview of traditional Asian culture, using a poetical approach to explore human perception and thinking in this age of technology. His artworks often develop from Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, East Asian animism and mythological tales. Combining media such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, animation, sound performances, ink painting and calligraphy, Tuan Mu’s artworks compose a transdisciplinary narrative structure, and engage the viewer in a dialogue. His artworks have been presented in numerous international exhibitions, including Durres Biennale, Athens Digital Arts Festival, Asia Digital Art Exhibition, CutOut Fest, Miami New Media Festival, Now & After International Video Art Festival, Venice Immersive Market Taiwan Pavilion, Festival ECRA, CineGlobe Film Festival, CYFEST Media Art Festival and International Digitalkunst Festival.
If you are interested in exhibiting or viewing this artistic VR experience, please send an email to us.
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