BETACAMP XR
Extended Realities, including AR, VR, and the metaverse, span a rich history of diverse tools and experiences. LEV Festival (Spain) and iMAL (Belgium) present BetaCamp XR on July 4-6, 2024, celebrating this diversity and XR technologies' history. The event features project showcases, discussions, and virtual tours, inviting communities and curious individuals to explore the future of Extended Realities.
We usually define Extended Realities as a conceptual umbrella which hosts both very old and very new terms, such as augmented reality, mixed reality, virtual reality and the metaverse. The truth is that it is complicated to imagine such a big umbrella including the immense diversity of tools, stories, experiences, dreams, discoveries and research which have been transforming how we look at the physical world from virtuality throughout several decades.
Such diversity is threatened when we try to homogenize and standardize the process of production, distribution and consumption of XR art projects, or when we succumb to the trends which we regularly find in public discourse. Contrary to popular belief, today’s extended reality is influenced by an unstoppable nostalgia. It is not a sad nostalgia of a better past, but a nostalgia thrilled by so many major milestones that inspired so many people in the world, but which seem to be neglected little by little, like the history of open source code behind places like High Fidelity, Vircadia, Tivoli Cloud VR and now Overte or the first software development kit for Oculus, financed thanks to a crowdsourced campaign.
In the context of European project Realities in Transition, LEV Festival (Spain) and iMAL (Belgium) present BetaCamp XR, a streamingPARTY which wants to celebrate this diversity and this nostalgia, while inviting us to reflect on the future of Extended Realities in the European context, reminding us about how valuable have these technologies been in the past, due to their rich history. As Úrsula K. Le Guin said in her essays about Fantasy and Science-Fiction: “At this point, realism is perhaps the least adequate means of understanding or portraying the incredible realities of our existence”.
BetaCamp XR streamingPARTY – 4th and 5th of July 2024
During the 4th and 5th of July 2024, we held BetaCamp XR streamingPARTY, a virtual event presented by Realities in Transition and broadcast live from L.E.V. Festival that sought to celebrate the diversity and creative possibilities of extended realities together with artists and studios that are breaking all the moulds in this field of digital creation.
The BETACAMP XR streamingPARTY programme began with the intervention of LaTurbo Avedon. This digital and virtual artist reflected on her existence as an avatar, on the deep creative links that are established between people and machines, in what she calls the era of simulation in which we find ourselves.
Through its portal of desires, LEV Festival shared with those who followed us live, a moment of pause and meditation from the virtual environment Dandelion. Throughout the two days of programming, there were other presentations, varied in format and content, which brought us closer to the work of studios such as Liveforvr!, SpacePopular, Deletere or ArsGames.
From the very places where ideas and projects are born, we were able to see how, to a greater or lesser extent, each creative process faces similar difficulties in different parts of the world. In addition, we had the opportunity to listen to Jordan Mountamani, from Astrea, whose presentation dialogued with those of the artists, demonstrating that in order to make known and show the potential of the XR, it is necessary that all the people involved, creatives, producers, distributors and administrations, work in the same direction. Finally, the guided visits to the different platforms and virtual environments, from VRChat to Overte and from Minecraft to Club Cooee, helped us to collectively share digital artworks such as Uncanny Alley or Namuanki, or audiovisual performances such as those curated by NeuroDungeon.
LaTurbo Avedon. Dandelion (Infinite Wishes and Simulation Era Practices)
Welcome talk
Shoeg. We Are The AI Resynthesizers _ES
Presentation of the virtual space for Realities in Transition
Adelin Schweitzer. deletere labs _FR
XR Studio presentation
Liveforevr XR LAB. Ultravioleta Immersive Podcast: Appsolescencia _ES
XR Studio presentation
Space Popular. Portal Galleries _ES
Site-specific VR installation visit
Neurodungeon. NeuroXcape eRave _ES
Virtual Reality Rave / Online Exhibition
PatriHorrillo. Uncensored Library Project by Reporters without Borders Germany
Project presentation from Minecraft
ArsGames _ES
Art and Videogames projects presentation
ArsGames is a Barcelona-based organisation with more than 15 years of experience in artistic creation and social innovation through the use of video games and digital technologies. Co-directed by Luca Carrubba and Eurídice Cabañes, ArsGames is behind the most successful national exhibitions focused on video games in recent years.
At BetaCamp XR streamingPARTY, they presented a series of works included in the online exhibition BiennaleVR – 01. Experimental video games created by artists, designers and digital developers that reflect on fabulation as a key to understanding the world of today, using technological innovation and detailed gameplay.
Games have proved to have an impact outside of the screens, they are not only an economical powerforce internationally, but also a consistent socialitation tool, having impact on political issues like feminism, human rights, violence but also urbanism, environmental crisis or human migration. To promote these ideas, ArsGames have been involved in the develop of several exhibitions: https://arsgames.net/exposiciones/
Among their projects presented their first VR Biennale, the interactive sound installation Audiogames by Carlos Padial and Bicélula, the artistic and acoustic investigation of aural architectures Resonant Spaces: WasteLands by Mathias Klenner, Sofía Balbontín and Joan Lavandeira; and the psychedelic sound experience Inercia created by Mónika Rikić, Rodolfo Venegas and Xavier Maixenchs).
Jordan Moutamani. ASTREA
Expert talk – Challenges of distribution in XR and tips for creators
One of the main challenges facing the distribution of artistic XR content is the coexistence of Virtual Reality platforms with more commercial content. It is therefore important to raise awareness of other proposals and alternatives in the distribution of online content, as well as to organise local events that showcase this type of proposals in artistic spaces and cultural institutions. In close collaboration with producers and creators, distribution’s companies build bridges between the virtual reality experience and story seekers. During the past Betacamp event, Jordan Moutamani, talks about ASTREA’s trajectory and the challenges it faces in its daily work, and will also give advice to creators on how to include distribution processes in their artistic development.
Rick Treweek (MetaRick). Uncanny Alley – Into The Metaverse _ZA
Kevin Mack. Namuanki _US
VRChat guided tours
BetaCamp SuperTele – 5th and 6th of July 2024
Inspired by the fluid and ever-evolving nature of extended reality, BetaCamp: SuperTele, at iMAL invites its audience to embark on an extraordinary journey that explores and crosses the boundaries of extended reality. Questioning conventional perceptions of what XR can be, iMAL aims to open the conversation around XR as an artistic medium.
Delving beneath the glossy surface of novelty sales pitches, SuperTele introduces a dynamic hybrid space of critical reflection on its contribution to creative production through the eyes of inspiring practitioners throughout the years and mediums. How and why is extended reality used in contemporary artistic practices? What lessons can we learn from online spaces and 3D environments? How valuable can obsolete technologies be in a world of rapid technological progress?
Guided by iMAL‘s hosts the audience of SuperTele will have the opportunity to be introduced and reflect on old and new cutting-edge artistic explorations, participate in insightful discussions with pioneers of the field in a playful re-discovery of the past and an inspiring introduction to the unknown future of our extended realities.
05.07 (17:00-21:00) – With: Auriea Harvey & Michael Samyn (entropy8zuper, Tale of Tales, Song of Songs), Nathalie Lawhead, Jeu Vide-A, Chia Amisola, Second Front, games.brussels, and students from the digital art department at ESA St-Luc Bxl
06.07 (12:00-16:00) – With: Cade Diehm (New Design Congress), Xavier Klein, Loïs Soleil, Guus Vandeweerd, Letta Shtohryn, Vincent Moulinet (Fabbula) & Kristof Timmerman (Maxlab)
SuperTele is hosted by Karin de Wild, Gary Farrelly and Sara Hamedi
