I am a visual artist and filmmaker who uses moving image to create films, video art and installations. My work focusses on how technology can help to explore the embodiment of people and places. I use specialised equipment and innovative filmmaking techniques to enable audiences to engage with these identities and bring their own self and experiences to the artworks.
My bursary awarded by a-n has enabled me to undertake professional development and mentoring with experts that will advance my arts practice to explore Virtual Reality (VR) as an art form, as opposed to using it as just an emerging technological tool.
“I have been able to investigate research and questions that are at the forefront of art and technology.”
My exploratory research visits to Bristol allowed me to acquire new knowledge in this emergent field and build new networks with VR professionals and organisations including artists, academics and technology specialists.
I also attended events held by Watershed/South West Creative Technology Network that enabled me to experience existing and prototype works that use technology to create immersive experiences.
“The bursary has helped me to undertake a vital phase of research and development to enable a step-change in my arts practice by finding new contexts and methods that open up new approaches using VR as an artform.”
The bursary experience has opened up many more questions than answers but this has helped me to fine tune and focus more specifically on certain areas of my research.
Things I found particularly interesting and informative has included:
– Understanding the complexities of terms and concepts such as ‘immersion’ and ‘empathy’ and how these may be experienced by audiences through technology.
– Different ways to make audiences feel more comfortable engaging with VR works and to have a fuller immersive experience, for example using technology as a part of a whole experience and using clever ways to ‘ground’ them in a space such as sound and objects (i.e. not just someone sitting you down and putting a headset on).
– Introductions to artists, specialists and organisations that will help me develop my own works in relation to technology-based processes and perspectives.
– Identifying the differences when using either computer-generated or 360° video content to allow audiences to enter new perceptual spaces, and the importance of deciding this early in a project’s development.
– Consideration of other immersive experiences that use technology effectively such as immersive theatre.
– Exploration of different types of immersive technologies in addition to VR, such as Mixed Reality (MR), Augmented Reality (AR), Cinematic Reality (CR) and X Reality (XR) that encompasses all of these different forms.
– Thinking about VR as a completely different medium that doesn’t have its own language yet and how very different it is to using conventional filmmaking techniques.
– Importance when creating and developing new works, to be open to experimentation and failure to enrich the collaborative process and as a consequence make more innovate pieces.
– Recommendation of suitable equipment/services; festivals/platforms that will showcase VR, documentary non-fiction and immersive works; and artists that also make this kind of work.
– Information about funding, events, opportunities, distribution and interdisciplinary programmes that focus on bringing together arts and technology.
“This opportunity will help me to build genuine collaborations and networks to enable me to work on more challenging projects now and in the future.”
This opportunity has provided me with vital information and advice surrounding critical, contextual and practical deliberations to bring VR and technology to the centre of my arts practice. It has also helped me to consider new models for engaging immersive experiences and if VR offers anything more than using other media formats.
“The experience has helped to inform my own artistic development using moving image and installation mediums within in a VR context.”
“The bursary has enriched my arts practice through advice on theoretical and practical elements creating immersive works and has helped me to ascertain long-term development strategies.”
The bursary has informed my professional development in relation to working on more ambitious, technologically complex, immersive arts projects by giving me a platform to continue my research investigations.
I have now started to develop partnerships with artists, academics and technology experts who specialise in immersive technologies to begin development of new project ideas.
For more information about me and my work: http://www.kyewilson.co.uk/
Follow me on social media:
Instagram kye_wilson_artist
Twitter @kyewilson
