VISITORS

2021 – 2022 | installation in digital virtual navigation environment with Oculus | scale 1: 1, dimensions 44.3 m2 |

Unity Developer: Kostis Monastiridis
Technical Support: Fenia Rizou

The artwork ‘Visitors’ intertwines virtual and physical spaces, challenging the concepts of privacy, transition, and the dominance of visual imagery, in the (post-) digital era.

The floor plan of Andrikopoulou’s house is represented both in the exhibition area and the VR simulation. The VR headset is designed for one ‘visitor’ at a time while in the physical exhibition space, the Oculus user becomes a part of the exhibition experience.

Within the black virtual environment, the white lines delineating the floor plan are the only visible features, accompanied by Andrikopoulou’s virtual cat as the sole presence. Once inside, visitors are free to navigate through every room and listen to private dialogues recorded during the COVID-19 home restrictions, involving the artist, her family, boyfriend, and friends. The white lines serve only as guides. The shift in the boundary’s material and symbolic significance emphasize the idea that no “wall” is impenetrable. The transition between ‘rooms’ is a seamless transition between different time frames and features the contemporary blurring of boundaries in daily routines. Private and public blend. Time management is becoming overwhelming. The emphasis on sound disrupts the traditional dominance of visual imagery. While VR technology is typically associated with immersive experiences, this work deliberately limits the medium’s function, resisting complete immersion.

Nelly Palaiogianni, curator