SITUATION #100

In cooperation with Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Fotomuseum presents The Sensible Spectrum, the most recent work of Swiss artist Alan Bogana, in the foyer of Theater Winterthur from 7–12 November.

No matter how deep we are immersed in medial environments, our physical behaviour remains exposed to the gaze of others. This aspect is at the heart of Alan Bogana’s VR installation, in which a membrane marks the interface between intimate and public space: It cocoons the users, yet leaves them partially exposed to observation while immersed in different VR sequences that were compiled by the artist from online platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. All sequences stem from different contexts and aim at distinctive viewer reactions, inducing therefore different ‘gaze’s narratives’. Via a customized VR headset, each user’s viewing behaviour can be tracked by outside observers, who experience the sequences in a unique spatialized way. By subtly confronting the two forms of spectatorship, The Sensible Spectrum underscores the correlation between the immersive media we consume and the potential privacy issues in the foreseen development of virtual reality technology. What happens when intimate signatures such as the movement of our gaze are exploited and our subjective reactions quantified?

More by Alan Bogana: alanbogana.com

Kindly supported by Pro Helvetia, Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne and Temperatio Foundation.

A cooperation with 21. Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur.