This weekend as part of the London City Island Open Studios event I assisted with running a virtual reality workshop at Arebyte Gallery with Studio Above and Below ! This workshop was designed for local children to engage with their surroundings in a new way by Studio Above and Below, and I was there to assist and make sure the workshop ran smoothly. We introduced the children to the concept of Virtual Reality, and using the maps SA&B had already made of the island we encouraged them to draw and add to the maps to use later. We installed the VR application onto their mobile phones, and then took the children out on a walk around the island to photograph interesting textures and colours on their phones- these were then uploaded into the application! We then went back outside to try out our new textures and shapes, using the maps and the app to make our drawings and textures come to life as VR sculptures on our phone screens! This was my first time working with VR and it was really fascinating assisting and learning more about how VR works and can be utilised to engage people in art and the world around them!
(Video clips to follow, I still need to edit them and upload to Vimeo/Youtube)
KAT OUTTEN 