Current: Utralight Beam

by Manuel Roßner Whilst this series of experiments that shaped our future tested the possibility of creating digital simulations to emulate reality, Manuel Roßner’s installation Ultralight Beam recreates the virtual world in the real world, thereby bringing not only the logic but also the aesthetics of computer programmes into an actual walk-in space. Industrial buildings and pipe systems can be constructed in 3D infrastructure software. Different colours are used to help us find our way round the three-dimensional plans and indicate the diameter of the pipes. When we see these garishly coloured pipes running through an equally brightly coloured room, we are reminded of a glorious children’s playground, but they can actually be traced back to the functionality of the programme.

Act Natural

with Joe Hamilton, Rick Silva and Kim Laughton Coming to VR soon! In January 2014, a picture turned up on a number of news platforms. It showed a screen swathed in deep grey smog standing in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. On it a huge sun shone out of a blood-red sky. According to the headlines, Beijing’s residents were so hungry for daylight that virtual sunrises were being set up on screens all over the city. The report was false; it was only a scene from an advert. It had been readily believed; for a public conditioned to computer-generated worlds, a simulated sunrise was an absurd but feasible scenario.

About the Game