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There has been a lot of artistic interest towards Virtual Reality, VR and Augmented Reality AR during the years. However, the development of the industry is largely dominated by technology companies and the entertainment industry. There has been only little cultural and alternative perspectives and content to virtual art, so far. With the exhibition project, the group of media artist wants to challenge this development and bring new media technologies to artists.

The exhibition is part of the Media art group Kruks’ wider project that began with a "VR art" workshop and its demo shows in 2017 in Sysmä. Media art group Kruks is a community founded in 2015 for professional artists, researchers and enthusiasts working in Finland in the field of arts and technology.

The exhibition works reflect on what virtual and added reality are as material and instrument for making art. Are VR and AR producing only quick experiences, such as the Pokémon Go game, or are they also art? What is the current virtual reality serving, and under what or whose conditions is it being made?

The works of the exhibition represent different, partly humoristic approaches to virtuality. In the exhibition, for example, you can see virtual glasses or a cardboard box made in a plastic bucket in a do-it-yourself spirit, so the viewer can feel the virtuality. The media archaeological perspective is provided by the pioneering work Conversations with Angels made in the 1990s, which backs up the development in virtual art.

Many of the artists are staff of Aalto University: Andy Best, Tomi Dufva, Jukka Hautamäki, Markku Nousiainen and Satu-Minna Suorajärvi. The other artists of the group are Kari Yli-Annala, Tuukka Haapakorpi, Merja Puustinen, Mikko Dufva, Pasi Rauhala and workgroup Pagan (Tuomo Tammenpää, Daniel Blackburn, Lisa Roberts). The exhibition has been curated and produced by Jukka Hautamäki and Markku Nousiainen, and supported by SKR's Uudenmaan rahasto fund.

The opening of the exhibition is on Thursday 24.5. at 17–19. The Do-it-yourself Bucket Workshop will be held on Saturday 26 May at 12–16. You can meet the artists of the exhibition on Sunday 3.6. 14–16.

Date: 25.5.–17.6.2018

Venue: Gallery Sculptor, Eteläranta 12

For more information:

Andy Best-Dunkley, Head, Center for General Studies, Lecturer in Sculpture, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Tel. +358 50 5714013, andy..best@aalto.fi