KATHY ROBINS

Between Homes, Between Forms, Between Languages, a virtual reality (VR) experience featured in the exhibition The Main Complaint, is a collaboration between three artists Olivié Keck, Sepideh Mehraban and Kathy Robins responding to the current issues around diaspora and the concept of home.

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We used the digital medium of virtual reality to translate these ideas from the physical world into the immersive digital landscape. Each artist has responded to the themes of language, home and form within this environment.

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The Disco Of Dying Languages portrays as a tribute to dying and extinct languages around the world today. The format of a disco is synonymous with celebration and when articulated in the medium of VR, it reminds the audience that the past informs the future.

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a response to the manifesto of basic human rights, established in Paris in 1948. It states that everyone is free to express their independent thoughts and to live freely anywhere in our physical world. The act of translating this text into VR is a reminder of that promise which has not been achieved.

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Homage begins with the viewer entering through a neon-lit tunnel with the sound of water. This is a sensual experience that references climate change and the physical elements; earth, water, air and fire. Combining nature and space is an inspiration for this trajectory that defies the formal limitations of reality and the promise of the future.

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We are coming from Africa and the Middle East, the physical world. There is no claim over the digital realm. It’s an infinity space that belongs to everyone, a universal landscape that exists without boundaries, limitation or territory - a new frontier to explore a brave new world.

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This project wouldn’t have been possible without the help of lead programmer, Evan Greenwood and sound artist, Jason Sutherland from SA Game Studio, Free Lives.