Since DARKENING in 2022, Ondřej Moravec has followed up with an equally successful second VR production, FRESH MEMORIES: THE LOOK, while launching a new event dedicated 100% to immersive creation, in Prague: Art*VR, the logical continuation of several years of programming for various Czech events. An appetite for immersive creation that continues this year with his new production, FRAGILE HOME, and a thematic continuity on the traumas of war in Ukraine that echoes history. A mixed reality experience co-directed by Victoria Lopukhina, and selected this month for Venice Immersive 2024.
Allegations of copyright infringement surfaced in a private WhatsApp group during the festival, prompting Moravec to issue a formal statement on September 2nd.
FRAGILE HOME explores a format brought up to date by the latest generations of VR headsets, offering an unprecedented look at a war experienced from the inside. Where FRESH MEMORIES took us into the field, to meet the first witnesses and victims of the Ukrainian conflict, FRAGILE HOME evokes emotion by transforming the living room into a place of life caught in the grip of everyday violence. Step by step, as we make our own discoveries, it makes use of mixed reality to let the imaginary become part of the story. Striking.
FRAGILE HOME, a new proposal on the impact of conflict… in mixed reality
Ondřej Moravec – For this new project, we began by developing the idea of a character who would appear in the midst of the Ukrainian conflict. We wanted to move forward fairly quickly, but with the idea of creating an XR experience as we know how, which required time and funding. So we went back to a more agile concept, along the lines of the documentary film 360 FRESH MEMORIES: THE LOOK.
O. M. – Mixed reality came naturally with the announcement of the Quest 3 encouraging us to explore this format. And it was an interesting challenge to confront our ideas, in the course of production, for the new headsets. We soon realised that we needed to move towards something that would be more contemplative than purely narrative. In any case, that’s my vision of this mixed reality, where it’s more complex to add characters and environments that are too complex. We had to let the viewer integrate the story, with a minimalist intention on our part.
Contemplating the transition to mixed reality for a narrative experience
O. M. – Tackling mixed reality was a fairly natural move, in the end. With DARKENING, I had proposed a very narrative experience, very rich visually, with a narrator. I wanted to tell a very specific story. FRESH MEMORIES is a rather naturalistic project, already minimalist, which didn’t need any further elaboration. FRAGILE HOME and my next projects are undoubtedly freed from an overly narrow narrative form, with more distance from the project. Especially as I don’t experience the Ukrainian conflict personally, even though I know a lot of people who are either victims or parties to it.
O. M. – When mixed reality came to the fore for FRAGILE HOME, we chose to place ourselves in the viewers’ real-life environments. Ikea is one of the project’s partners, and it also made sense because most homes have Ikea furniture, which we could use as a support. And it’s obvious that, for the entry into the experience, we could ask each spectator to place himself in front of his own everyday environment (a window, a table, a sofa…).
Revisiting the notion of mixed-reality environment
O. M. – I also had to consider the spectator’s involvement in the experience in this new format. But our energy during production was not focused on this question. FRAGILE HOME places objects and intentions in the room, but it’s up to the audience to take hold of them. Everything has its meaning, its importance – with very specific narratives behind it. But for that, whether you know the meaning or not, you dive into the experience. We have to think about the fact that the medium is new to the audience, and we have to guide them a little. Here, we’re dealing with a relatively simple (even simplistic) approach, where you don’t need any information to move forward. It’s very intuitive.
O. M. – We had many options when it came to designing the experience, but I wanted to stick to symbolic or personal objects. The photographs you can see on one wall are here with a real purpose, as they are direct testimonies from the people suffering the conflict. There’s a ceramic rooster which is one of the strongest symbols of the Ukrainian struggle (link), and so on. And references that are more like winks if you know the history of each object, like the tomato pot (link). All this is not gratuitous, but serves the purpose at the heart of your visit.
O. M. – Mixed reality needs a little more time to be adopted by narrative content. We’re only just beginning to master the virtual reality format! MR already has a few game titles making full use of it, thanks to platform support and distribution possibilities. But for independent creators, it takes a little longer. But we’re also moving forward artistically, with the presentation of an immersive mixed-reality show 6 DEGREES with dancers – a very interesting and challenging new chapter that will have its world premiere this September 2 in Prague.
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