Virtual Realms: Videogames Transformed Exhibition Guide
12 Jun 2021 - 9 Jan 2022
EXHIBITION
Virtual Realms: Videogames Transformed Exhibition Guide
Making its world premiere in Singapore, Virtual Realms takes videogames from the screen into the museum environment through the presentation of six new interactive experiences. This exhibition reimagines videogame creativity and reshapes how we can play together across both virtual and physical realms. Curated by celebrated game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi, in collaboration with the Barbican, the exhibition is a co-production with ArtScience Museum and Melbourne Museum.
The experiences presented in Virtual Realms are conceived by some of the world’s leading videogame developers working in partnership with media designers to showcase six key themes found across the videogame medium. These themes are represented as six realms titled—SYNESTHESIA, UNITY, CONNECTION, PLAY, NARRATIVE and EVERYTHING.
Virtual Realms invites you to experience videogames transformed: from an explosion of your senses in SYNESTHESIA, to discovering moments of UNITY in light and sound; sublime CONNECTIONS with other players through a cognitive wall; a joyful celebration of interactivity in PLAY; a never-ending 360-degree visual NARRATIVE; and a psychedelic reflection on the nature of EVERYTHING in the universe. Your journey through this exhibition will introduce you to new ways of approaching and enjoying videogames today.
Exhibition Realms
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SYNESTHESIA
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UNITY
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CONNECTION
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PLAY
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NARRATIVE
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EVERYTHING
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Virtual Realms Programmes
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SYNESTHESIA
Rezonance, 2021
Enhance and Rhizomatiks
The neurological phenomenon of synesthesia, where the senses cross or become blurred, is the focus of Enhance’s game Rez Infinite (2016) and is fundamental to their ongoing research. Within the realm of SYNESTHESIA, you will be transported to new dimensions where sounds can be ‘seen’ and visuals ‘felt’.
Once you enter the SYNESTHESIA realm, you will become part of the pulsing rhythmic beat and a ‘traveller’ on the Rezonance journey. For those travellers performing with the haptic spheres, you will carry the seeds of life in your hands and whilst holding the spheres, move and interact with others to sculpt the light and shape the sounds. Your performance will then create a synesthetic experience for everyone in the space to enjoy.
Featured Artwork
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Enhance and Rhizomatiks, Rezonance concept image, 2021
Commissioned by Barbican International Enterprises and made possible thanks to the support of HP Inc.
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UNITY
Together: the distance between (us), 2021
thatgamecompany and FIELD.IO
In the UNITY realm, the dreamlike world of thatgamecompany’s Sky: Children of the Light (2019) has been transformed into an immersive spatial environment. As you move beneath the circular light-sculpture, music and audio fragments from the game, Sky, are triggered and a choreography of light sequences unfolds.
Together: the distance between (us) invites everyone to become a player in the all-encompassing generative instrument. Explore the relationship between movement, light and sound as you use your presence to influence the composition of the space. By collaborating with others, you will witness the build-up of fragments of light and melody which will culminate in a collective crescendo and a moment of unity for all to experience.
Featured Artwork
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thatgamecompany and FIELD.IO, Together: the distance between (us), 2021
Commissioned by Barbican International Enterprises.
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CONNECTION
WALL, 2021
KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS and The Mill
The key theme of human connection in KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS’ game, DEATH STRANDING (2019), has been reimagined for the WALL experience. The wall divides two opposing worlds—one alive with biological cells and the other flowing with galactic energy particles. Explore these two spaces and find ways to communicate between them.
As you approach the wall, the cells and cosmic particles respond to your presence, dividing and clustering to create mesmerising patterns. Amongst your interactions and imprints, traces of other silhouettes will emerge and snapshots of past interactions will be replayed. These signs of life within or beyond the wall, hint at the structure as a channel of communication between different spaces and time.
Featured Artwork
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KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS and The Mill, WALL concept image, 2021
Commissioned by Barbican International Enterprises and made possible thanks to the support of HP Inc.
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PLAY
Dream Shaping, 2021
Media Molecule, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe and Marshmallow Laser Feast
The realm of PLAY celebrates the joyful and performative sensibilities that videogames inspire in us, their players.
Dream Shaping has been created in Dreams (2020), Media Molecule's vast digital toolset that empowers makers to build and share their creations whether games, music, art or animation.
In Dream Shaping, your helmet connects you to the virtual world of Dreams, while the oversized soft shapes in the play-space are your props. Moving through the three acts of PLAY, you will be transported from a multicoloured ball-pit to the creation of the universe and back again. Sharing shapes and experimenting with movements around the space will create a spectacle within both the physical and virtual worlds.
Featured Artwork
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Media Molecule and Marshmallow Laser Feast, Dream Shaping, 2021
Commissioned by Barbican International Enterprises and made possible thanks to the support of Vicon. DREAMS™ © 2021 Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd. Developed by Media Molecule. ‘DREAMS’ and ‘Made in Dreams logo’ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. All rights reserved.
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NARRATIVE
Book of Sand, 2021
Tequila Works and The Workers
The NARRATIVE realm showcases the power of videogames to tell stories and create new forms of fiction. Step into the mysterious Mediterranean world of Tequila Works’ game, RiME (2017), to begin the next chapter of this ever-evolving tale of discovery and loss.
Inspired by Jorge Luis Borges's novella of the same name, Book of Sand explores the notion of an infinite story with neither ‘any beginning or end’. Step into the spotlights to trigger changes on the screen, such as the crumbling of statues or shifting night into day. Depending on your choices and how you collaborate with others, each rendition of the narrative will be different.
Featured Artwork
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RiME © 2017 Tequila Works
Commissioned by Barbican International Enterprises and made possible thanks to the support of Epic MegaGrant. RiME © 2017 Tequila Works. All rights reserved.
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EVERYTHING
Eye, 2021
David OReilly and onedotzero
The EVERYTHING realm celebrates the capacity of videogames to generate expansive universes and give shape to the infinite potential of our imagination.
Eye is a unique reactive environment based on the concepts of OReilly’s game, Everything (2017). Rotate the three oversized controllers to play with the ‘flow’, ‘scale’ and ‘warp’ of the shifting kaleidoscopic formations or mandalas on the screen. The patterns of living and non-living forms are continuously being generated and no mandala created will ever be seen again.
Eye takes you on a visual journey through time, from the Big Bang through to the end of the universe. With soft spongy seating to lounge on and a synchronised soundtrack from the London Symphony Orchestra, sit back and bathe in this psychedelic wonder.
Featured Artwork
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David OReilly and onedotzero, Eye, 2021
Commissioned by Barbican International Enterprises and made possible thanks to the support of HP Inc. and London Symphony Orchestra. Eye of The Dream is originally a co-production of the Berliner Festspiele / Immersion / The New Infinity and Planetarium Hamburg.
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Virtual Realms Programmes
ArtScience Museum presents a collection of specially curated programmes in conjunction with Virtual Realms to take you on a journey into the world of videogames. From talks featuring trailblazers in art and technology who are sculpting the possibilities of immersive media and extended reality technologies to school programmes that bring exciting museum content into classrooms, discover the programmes we have at the museum and online. You can also visit these pages for more information:
Films on ArtScience on Screen
Workshops at ArtScience Museum
Tours at ArtScience Museum
Talks at ArtScience Museum
Online programmes at ArtScience at Home
School programmes4
CONSERVATION OF ARTWORK
You may have noticed art handlers wearing protective gloves. This is because the oil on our hands causes a chemical reaction with almost everything we touch. For artworks and photographs, this can have a detrimental effect.
Most museums enforce a ‘NO FLASH’ photography rule. The ultraviolet light of the flash generates heat and light, both of which can damage artworks.
Taking photographs in the museum is encouraged unless otherwise signposted.
Artworks must be kept at specific low temperatures and relative humidity to protect them from deterioration. This means our museum may feel cold to you.
Want to know more about collection conservation guidelines? Visit the International Council of Museums online for more information.
Our Partners
The Barbican
A world-class arts and learning organisation, the Barbican, London pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. Its creative learning programme further underpins everything it does. Over 1.1 million people attend events annually, hundreds of artists and performers are featured, and more than 300 staff work onsite. The architecturally renowned centre opened in 1982 and comprises the Barbican Hall, the Barbican Theatre, The Pit, Cinemas One, Two and Three, Barbican Art Gallery, a second gallery The Curve, foyers and public spaces, a library, Lakeside Terrace, a glasshouse conservatory, conference facilities and three restaurants. The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre.See more
The Barbican is home to Resident Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra; Associate Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra; Associate Ensembles the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia, Associate Producer Serious, and Artistic Partner Create. Our Artistic Associates include Boy Blue, Cheek by Jowl, Deborah Warner, Drum Works and Michael Clark Company. The Los Angeles Philharmonic are the Barbican’s International Orchestral Partner, the Australian Chamber Orchestra are International Associate Ensemble at Milton Court and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra are International Associate Ensemble.
Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, offering unparalleled insight into Victoria’s histories, cultures and natural environment from a range of perspectives. Behold globally-recognised exhibitions such as First Peoples, Te Vainui O Pasifika, Bugs Alive!, 600 Million Years, The Mind, Dinosaur Walk, and Forest Secrets,
along with brilliant temporary and touring exhibitions from near and far.See more
along with brilliant temporary and touring exhibitions from near and far.See more
Located in the iconic Carlton Gardens and designed by Denton Corker Marshall, this iconic structure houses spaces such as Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Te Pasifika Gallery, the Forest Gallery, the Science and Life Gallery, the Melbourne Gallery and the Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery.
Museums Victoria is the umbrella organisation for Melbourne Museum, Scienceworks, Immigration Museum and IMAX Melbourne, as well as Museums Victoria’s largest collection item, the iconic UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building. Attracting in excess of 2 million visitors across all its venues, Museums Victoria is one of the most popular tourism attractions in Victoria.