Museum Essay #3

The first work I chose is an installation by Nadim Abbas, one bunker from a set of three. It is a virtual quarantined environment for isolating hazardous people. The artist created these bunkers as a metaphor for biological warfare and the Ebola epidemic. It is a literal blockage of airborne pathogens, but the comfort of a physical touch is not possible. There is an iRobot policing the bunker, ensuring that the space outside is clean. The inside of this particular bunker looks very white, representing cleanliness. The framed art is in the shape of a circle, like the world, which might upset the person in the bunker because they would constantly be reminded of everything they are missing. There are two sets of rubber gloves bolted to the clear glass, one from the outside to touch inside, and the other protruding from the inside to touch outside. The screen is divided into two parts, separating the gloves, and is reminiscent of glass shower panes. The only living thing in the space is a small plant, probably meant to comfort the person with a familiar object. The toilet paper is unsettling because there is no designated area to use the restroom. The cup could be the answer, or it might be to signify the absence of water. This lack of physical touch is a glimpse of what it would be like for someone with a hazardous disease: trapped in a small space and fearing for their life, with people watching them through the glass like an animal at the zoo. The militarized technology of the iRobot, along with the domestic space, creates a "dystopian fusion" of self-protection and comfort.

The second work I chose is a wearable device called an Oculus Rift. The software, Phantom, was created by Daniel Steegman Mangrané in partnership with ScanLAB in London. It is a virtual environment of the heart of the Mata Atlântica rainforest in southern Brazil. The virtual world was created by capturing the area of the rainforest using 3D laser-scanning software. The user puts the mask on their face from above, and the simulation advances you in the direction you decide to walk. The artist takes inspiration from Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro's idea of "perspectivism," the indigenous assumption that all things are human and the actual existence of something is based on perspective. With this philosophy, there are no fixed objects, and the Phantom is meant to capture the dynamic relationships between objects in the rainforest: trees, grass and dirt. This software was created to demonstrate that art is not entirely fixed, but is instead based on experience. The technology is in the beginning stages for this device, but the applications are endless. Medical, deep sea diving and astronaut training, flight and roller coaster simulation, exploration without having to travel (virtual tourism), and recreational sports. It could also be used to view 3D artwork made to be seen in a digital space. The work is using the new technology of virtual reality as its form.