Beyond Virtual Production: Integrating Production Technologies by Barnett Edited by Tully & Bevan Jason & Mackness Cameron & Wallin Zoë

Author:Barnett, Edited by Tully & Bevan, Jason & Mackness, Cameron & Wallin, Zoë
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2024-12-13T14:34:45+00:00

Project 2: ESCHATECH VR

The next project I undertook in The Void was through Flinders University’s Assemblage Artist-in-Residence program where a digital artist was invited to make a project using The Void MoCap facility to create a new digital work in any medium. I submitted a proposal for a project which was eventually named ESCHATECH VR. This project is a playable, first-person VR simulation of the last 100 seconds of humanity where the player awakes in a survival bunker with a descending timer on their wrist. Outside the bunker is a polluted, desolate world devoid of natural flora and fauna with four enormous anthropomorphic titans destroying the last remaining pieces of the Earth, each one representing a different facet of destruction- resource pillaging, irresponsible waste, corporate greed, and Mother Nature’s retaliation. The titans can be seen at all points of the experience. When heading toward the ocean, between offshore oil rigs is the resource pillaging titan who is an obese, male, human creature who is dripping in crude oil; he is sluggish and flails his arms, trying to grab onto the shore and, over the game’s short duration, the sea level rises at an aggressive rate, reducing the size of the explorable map as time goes on. Toward the city is the titan of capitalism, characterised as a businessman made up of a cloud of floating 50 dollar notes; he stands proud, laughing with overconfidence, stomping on the polluted lands. Toward the dump are piles of burning waste and smog left by human’s irresponsible consumption habits and an obese male titan made entirely of rubbish. The final titan is a femme made out of fire, the ecofeminist representation of nature’s wrath that starts weak, but over the 100 seconds becomes more powerful and extrudes flames to destroy the other titans and the player. There is also a music performance in the middle of the map where a large group of cyborg posthumans are dancing to a live music performance on a futuristic stage. Littered around the map are also ‘pickups’ or collectable resources that the player can collect and bank on their wrist display which include food, water, money, carbon credits, and fuel.

Figure 8.2Performers in The Void capturing movements for ESCHATECH VR with director Liam Somerville. Photo credit: Rosina Possingham

In the VR experience the player has no objectives and is free to explore the map with their precious 100 seconds. ESCHATECH VR is an ‘art-game’ where, although the simulation includes many game-like tropes, the piece is made as an immersive experience as opposed to a traditional video game which usually prioritises gameplay and a timeline of objectives. The main reason for the creation of this art-game is to promote conversation and change outside of the experience, as the short taste of horrors in this virtual world invites questioning oneself and provokes conversation between other players about the human-caused climate disaster we are experiencing in our reality. The short and intense climate fiction (cli-fi) VR experience shows a possible future of humankind

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