Virtual Reality and Immersive Storytelling Artist Residency

In partnership with Raw Finery, a hybrid fashion and technology lab situated in Toronto’s downtown core, Subtle Technologies announces its inaugural artist-in-residency program: VISAR, or the Virtual Reality and Immersive Storytelling Artist Residency. Positioned as a project animator, this 6-month residency will allow an individual media artist to explore the critical potential of virtual reality technologies through the creation of a public art piece that fuses video games, fashion design and wearable technology.

VR Virtual Reality

As virtual reality looks to become the new standard in video game entertainment the experience of immersion promises to also become associated with daily life. Artists have an important role at this point in time to adapt and reframe such visioning technologies for socially and politically-engaged uses—creating alternative realities that disrupt the status quo and offer non-commercial experiences. Scholarship on the value of “ludic technologies”, or technologies for play, has also shed light on the powerful potential of gaming for casual learning and collaboration. With this in mind, the VISAR program asks makers with media backgrounds to consider new modes of narrative and storytelling that prioritize the virtual body, the fluidity of digital space and fashion-as-interface.

Interested applicants are invited to submit a project proposal using the submission guidelines listed below. The successful resident will be provided with access to studio space, financial support for necessary hardware and software, on-site technical resources and creative consultation for the duration of their project, including the exhibition of their finished work.

Application for VISAR closes midnight, October 13th, 2016. More information and submission guidelines available at http://subtletechnologies.com/visar/