4. Exhibition: //Parallels

//Parallels

by Claudia Agustini, Arianna Freni and Francesca Savoldelli

It is easy to slip into a parallel dimension. 

Who has never traveled with the mind and wondered whether an alternative version 

of ourselves was doing the exact same thing, in a parallel universe? 

In our exposition you’ll be able to physically explore what means 

to be immersed in a parallel dimension. Come check our black space 

and find out what alternative reality is waiting for you. 

//Concept

Parallel dimensions are self-contained realities which travel through time in the same direction as ours. As it is possible to imagine, we are unable to reach them, and they differ from our reality in at least one thing. What if we could give the chance to step into a space that cuts through ours and a parallel dimension allowing them to encounter one another? Our installation called //Parallels is the realization of this thought. When entering our black tent, the participants are able to experience an meta-exhibition, taking place in an alternative universe.

For the realization of a completely immersive experience we created a black space in which audio and visual stimuli were given to the participant. The visual aspect of our installation is composed by the 5 works of art presented under the form of holograms which give an other-worldly sensation to the participant since is something not commonly used in exhibitions. First, we chose the artworks we wanted to exhibit mostly from OpenProcessing. Then, we modified the code to have a black background and recorded a video of it. Finally, we created videos able to be projected on truncated square pyramids made of plastic sheets which we put on top of the computer screens. In regard to the audio we decided to mix famous phrases of sci-fi movies with a space-like background sound to isolate the person from the outside noises. 

When entering the tent, we give the participant a pair of headphones were the 5-minute audio will be played and we instruct him or her to sit in the middle of the tent facing the holograms. The participant is informed that the experience is designed for one person at a time and last 5 minutes. When the time is up, we open the tent and ask them if they are willing to sing our guest book as their parallel self. 

The guest book signed by the public 

of our parallel exhibition

[THE VIDEO OF //PARALLELS CAN BE SEEN ON THIS PAGE]