Cultural Institutions: Digital Interfaces and Virtual Presence

Abstract:

This essay deals with the relationship of cultural institutions and the digital age. With the COVID-19 crises serving as a backdrop to this research paper, the not-often- questioned ideas on what cultural institutions are are reassessed. With the backbone of cultural life being presented by the almost fifty percent of cultural workers who are self – employed, we first address a more accurate definition of what a cultural institution is, judging by the state of the industry. Following this, a clear and novel differentiation between digital interfaces and virtual presence that is possible in the realm of culture is made.These terms are coined in this paper due to the need to make these two both important and valid strategies more understandable. Making these distinctions clear in practice, numerous opportunities in the digital realm for cultural institutions are presented.

1 Let us start this essay with a thought experiment.

Close your eyes and remember the last or the most remarkable time you experienced a piece of art. What comes to your mind?

Take a moment and really try to come up with a detailed answer.

There are, undoubtedly, an array of remarkable experiences that come to mind as answers here; rich in quality and with versatility beyond imagination. There are enumerable single stories to be told, moments to retell in each of our individual minds that read this.

Regardless of how the experience that you recalled is personally linked to you, formed by the people you were with or the feeling you sensed or even the peculiar moment in life and your own being that made this experience an unique one - there is, simply put, a very predictable variable as to where this experience took place and your experience at hand was linked to you presence in or at this place.

What came to your mind took place:

• In/at a theatre, dance or circus (production/venue) ; • In a museum or exhibition space; • At an archeological site; • At a concert; • At a music festival; • At a film screening of sorts or; • At an art school or university.

You were, almost certainly, in a cultural institution of sorts.

Provided, there is a light chance that your specific experience is detached from any of these physical places. In this scenario, it means that you were probably consuming a digital(ised) work on a technological or secondary medium - like watching a film at home

2 via speakers, tv, laptop or smartphone; usually with aid of digital distributing platform.

Let us do another thought experiment. Please think of any other possible remarkable experience of contact with arts and culture you might have had. Make a mental list of two or three more moments that come to mind.

Now that you recalled them – did any of these experiences take place in an exclusively digital environment – like visiting a website gallery? Or even a virtual environment – like in a 3D modeled space?

Most probably not.

Thinking about art, one seems to conjure up a first hand experience that they had with a piece of any sorts that is linked to a sense of immediate consumption usually determined by physical presence. The experiences you imagined are experiences in you that are linked to going to a specific place at a specific point in time. This is especially true with some media and less true for others (more sensory hijacking forms of art). Sill, it remains true across all forms and formats.

If any of the experiences that came to your mind took place in the last 5 years – did you in any way use the internet as aids to make this beautiful experience happen? Did you use a certain website to inform yourself about working hours? Did you use a social media website to ask about ticket availability or to purchase a ticket?

Do you in your digital activities, have contact with a digital avatar or representatives of the institution, group of people or a place that was linked to any of these experiences? To best illustrate what is meant by this, I will give an example. Let us say you are in dialogue via direct messages with MOMA in New York City trough one of its official pages on social media. You are not talking to the institution per se, but with its digital representative or avatar.

Although we see cultural institutions functioning in demand of physical presence in order to experience an institution and a piece of art – we non the less see an organic need

3 for digital presence of an institution.

Even if you manage to get, say, a professional replica of that one most impressionable piece of art from a museum, in highest fidelity to the original, and take it back home with you – gazing at it will only bring back the feeling you have had when you first saw it, in another physical space and time.

After all this said, even though we are already consuming art in this landscape, we have come to see that some unclarities exist when we talk about arts, culture and technological presence.

There is a dismay when it comes to what is the direction that the arts will be taking when it comes to the new technologies that are coming on the horizon – like AR glasses or a more widespread consumption of VR based art.

The landscape of artistic institutions and the digital age is the premiss of this work.

There is a conundrum concerning the actual meaning of some key words or terms that serve as a basis for this work. Also, there is a lack of clarity when it comes to the boundaries of some of these points of reference.

But in order to dissect and solve some of these points, we need to first define a key point – and that is to present what we shall consider as a cultural institution?

What is a cultural institution?

Upon trying to find the definition online, one finds a number of results on Google.

However, upon looking for a clear answer what is the definition of a cultural institution or a cultural entity, one finds themselves short handed. We find a stub of a website on Wikipedia quoting:

A cultural institution or cultural organization is an organization within a culture/subculture that works for the preservation or promotion of culture. the term is

4 especially used of public and charitable organizations, but its range of meaning can be very broad. examples of cultural institutions in modern society are museums, libraries and archives,churches, art galleries.1

This is the end of the quote; that is only followed by 3 suggested further reading links.

There is one point of reference that aims to present a definition of what a cultural institution is. It is presented of the website of the Riches website, an EU program that aimed to and the heritage focused cultural institutions find digital audiences.

Here, it is stated:

Cultural institutions are institutions with an acknowledged mission to engage in the conservation, interpretation and dissemination of cultural, scientific, and environmental knowledge, and promote activities meant to inform and educate citizens on associated aspects of culture, history, science and the environment.

Examples of cultural institutions are museums, libraries, historical or botanical societies, and community cultural centers. Cultural institutions play a pivotal role in the maintenance, conservation, revitalisation, interpretation, and documentation of heritage, and in facilitating citizens’ interaction and engagement with heritage.

As such, cultural institutions are important actors in the promotion of cultural understanding, intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity, and in the transmission of culture across generations.2

As the source of this definition we find the report On the role of public arts and cultural institutions in the promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue,

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_institution ; accessed 21.5.2020. 2 https://ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/culture/library/reports/201405-omc-diversity-dialogue_en.pdf accessed 31.3.2020.

5 January, 2014.3 This is a resource that serves to promote the findings of EU cultural policies.

From this, we can conclude that, when noting what a cultural institution is, we mostly see the notion bound to physical entities that are working to represent or restore art – and usually visual arts.

This point of view shuts its door to numerous legal entities functioning in the field of culture – such as small theatre troupes, independent film makers, small and medium scale production companies across the field, theatre magazines, actors... the list goes on and on.

If one works in culture, one usually creates or deals with art and in order to do so usually opens a legal entity of sorts . Most commonly, these cultural workers and practitioners are self employed, and they work in such a way so that they can continue to do the actions that, in actuality, make the work of large scale cultural institutions – ones had in mind when talking about the definition of the term until now - possible. In fact, Eurostat presents that : In 2018, the proportion of people who were self-employed in the field of culture in the EU-28 was more than double the average observed for the whole of the economy4.

Also, they note that there is : A lower proportion of people working in the field of culture were employed on a full-time basis than the average share of full-time employment across the whole of the EU-28 economy. This could be explained, at least in part, by a number of cultural jobs being characterized by self-employment/freelancing and job flexibility, which may result in job insecurity and considerable variations in income over time.5

Most notably, the same source mentions that: Nearly half (48 %) of all artists and

3 https://ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/culture/library/reports/201405-omc-diversity-dialogue_en.pdf accessed 31.3.2020. 4 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Culture_statistics_-_cultural_employment, accessed 20.5.2020. 5 Ibid

6 writers in the EU-28 were self-employed (in 2018).6

Paradoxically, even though these statistics note that the back bone of culture in Europe lies in small, self employed cultural workers pushing the industries forward, these individual cases and smaller legal entities are not seen as cultural institutions. Financial and practical support is, most often if not exclusively, governmentally of municipally given just to large scale institutions, while omitting the leading force that guides the field.

With all this said, there seems to be a deep need to finally reassess both the idea of what a cultural institution is, as well as propose a new point if view on how we should define the term.

A cultural institution shall for the purposes of this work be defined as a:

Legally established, secular entity that serves to produce, academically deepen or promote an art form, an art piece, an artist or an artistic collective.

Here a cultural institution would differ from other definitions of cultural institutions in that the only and primary action of a cultural institution is based around the industry of arts and culture (unlike, say, a church, that also could host concerts but in essence has another, religious activity, or a an average high-school that has an art class or exhibition, but its main focus is not academic artistic work but rather primarily in the field of education).

Before moving forward, it would be wise to also note that, in rise of the Covid-19 crises, the field of arts is one of the more severely hit ones. Just taking a look at the statistics is overwhelming and disturbing. According to U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, the unemployment rate in working in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector has gone from 4.7% IN February 2020 to a staggering 47.1% in April 2020.7 Eurostat is about

6 https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag71.htm; accessed 21.5.2020. 7 Ibid

As a response, we were presented with live streams of shows and virtual concerts8 and usually ones that were prerecorded months or even years before they were streamed.

As these took place, it was made painfully clear that, even though these digitally curated performances lifted some spirits, they reached far from being satisfactory, and fell quite flat. No wonder- real life based art drives its value and its core essence from the fact that being at a certain place at a certain time with certain people serves as a bases of perceiving the work.

Besides the sense of falling short, we also could see that these institutions used sites like Instagram or Youtube to present work or parts of work in real time. This lead to a confusion that raised the question – why do these institutions not do this anyway?

However – as the general novelty of these options evaporated, we came to see that the base quality of real life based art and its impact on our social life is still something that is valuable; and that a cultural life is to be maintained with an actual presence. The digital interface substitutes simply do not offer as many levels of interaction as a regular experience would offer.

By equalizing a virtual presence of an institution with its digital interface and possibilities the digital interfaces offer (like interaction on social media, streaming etc.), we have more than ever felt the need and opportunity to globally start the dialogue about how can new media and technology offer a global audience a chance to experience contact in the most engulfing manner?

There should be no surprise that cultural institutions seem not to see a difference between these two presences, and their possible usage. The differentiation between these two ways of being present as an institution were not clearly parted. From afar it all seems like a whole, when in fact it is not.

8 https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9335531/coronavirus-quarantine-music-events-online-streams , accessed 14.04.2020.

9 The phrase digital interface is coined in this paper with the specific aim of separating these service mediums from the technology potentials of virtual representations of institutions.

Both are important and technology based and supported, yet should not be viewed as one, especially as virtual presence of cultural institutions offers insights into new ways of creative expressions and opening works to a global market.

Cultural institutions and digital interfaces

The term digital interfaces is a term that I believe best describes an array of actions that cultural institutions are already doing in the digital realm.

In the previous chapter, it is mentioned that a cultural institution or a production would have a presence online in some shape or form, that enables users to reach out to it. It is usually a website or this is done with the aid of accounts on social media.

These activities, together with some others, form what is here defined as one cultural institutions digital interfaces.

These interfaces can be broken down in these following categories:

• An email service; • Social media pages and their direct messaging services; • Websites; • Reproduction of portions or of whole elements of work that the institutions creates or represents in another (digital) format (such as a 3D scan of premises, digital gallery etc.); • Phone or (rarely) letter customer support; or as • VR booths (at events such as industry fairs).

10 With this in mind, I will go on to propose the definition of digital interfaces in this context as follows:

Digital interfaces are mostly technologically aided outreach, informational and promotional activities, that serve to best represent the core actions of a cultural institution, raise interest about them but are not the core or a surrogate to or of the cultural or artistic labour of or within a cultural institution.

The way that a cultural institutions use these interfaces is to promote their varied activities, as well as to build momentum and a solid founded brand image. These all, as well designed and planned they are with the aid of skilled social media managers, marketing experts and varied designers, are an integral part of functioning of an institution.

They serve to promote the activities in the field, to give momentum and a glimpse into the functioning of these institutions, promote its causes and values and engage future audiences.

However, all these actions are not and should not be seen as equivalent to actually taking part in the core services that a cultural institution provides. A live stream of an opera is not the same as attending the event in person. The sound is different, the time demands, the energy and the overall experience is different. This does not undervalue the possible enjoyment of the opera stream. However, it is not the main focus of, say, an opera house to provide live streams of events, but to offer the whole, enchanting experience.

To illustrate the point I am making, let us take a look at this screenshot of the official, publicly accessible instagram page of the louvre in Paris9, presented here on access made 20.5.2002.

9 https://www.instagram.com/museelouvre/?hl=en ; accesed 20.5.2020.

We also see, if we look at the last photo of this screenshot, that this photo posted by them is liked by 128 thousand people, and was commented by one thousand one hundred and fifty one persons, at the time this screenshot was made. We can only assume that this image, as well as all the others, was seen by a very big number of people, worldwide.

However, this instagram page, as well visited and mentioned as it is, is simply a digital interface of the Louvre. To put a sign of equation between visiting the Instagram page of this venue, or watching an online guided tour of a part of the venue from home and the actual experience of visiting this museum is absolutely ridiculous.

This is because these strategies and representation do not take into account the notion of presence of an art work or an art institution.

To take part in an event or to observe physically represented art forms, we need to determine a space and time for the event in our movement and schedules. We need to set an intention to commit to a presence in a time and space. Upon arriving at a certain time and space, we enter into a reality that is governed by the world of the art piece (like walking around a kinetic sculpture), the written and unwritten rules of the physical institution (like no flash photography in museums or no singing along when in a opera) – or both.

Upon being present in the actual context of a cultural institution, our movement changes. Our attention and perception are altered. We are aware of the social implications as well as the practical implication of the institutions or piece of work we are watching.

For example – we are aware that 3rd gallery of the opera is usually less expensive than the main booth. We might see the Queen of England if we attend a certain event at a certain time. We can be in the same space as a certain actor, artist, performance artist. We understand a strong political statement that a queer piece has if we are seeing it in a religiously governed country that, say, deems homosexuality a crime punishable by death. The same might imply to engaging with art by a performance artist that questions the idea of the legality of abortion, mentioning a state where abortion is illegal, performed in a state where it was only recently made legal.

13 When I saw the Mona Lisa for the first time, it was an experience much different than the one I had imagined it to be. The colors were different than on any of its reproductions I had seen, I had to cue to see it, and its format was much smaller than I had imagined. I still remember that, right after seeing the Mona Lisa, I saw Nike of Samothrace, that made a profound impact on me. Also, as all of this was happening, I was on the sly eating peanut candy that I smuggled into the museum, and after that started to associate this particular taste with the highbrow art experience.

With all this in mind and to summarize - the actual presence with(in) a cultural institution is much wider than a two dimensional representation or a technology aided reproduction experience.

This is not to undermine the power or usefulness of reproduction works or digitization and archiving works. Their value is eminent, and is best seen in the value we assign to the digital interfaces of institutions. However, they are simply not the same thing, and should be seen that way.

The virtual and virtual presence

After the previous chapter, we have a clear sense of what a digital interface is. Before we move forward, we will proceed to now define the notion of virtual presence. In order to do so, we need to first consider the idea of what denotes this notion of the virtual.

The definition of virtual from the Oxford advanced learner's dictionary proposes that the adjective virtual is:

1. Made to appear to exist by the use of computer software, for example on the internet; as well as 2. Almost or very nearly the thing described, so that any slight difference is not important.10

The notion of virtual has been mentioned and debated in an ever more common

10 https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/virtual; accessed 21.5.2020.

14 manner since the sixties of the 20th century. As new technologies arose, and ideas of possibilities around their use formulated themselves . Most notably in the essay by the founder of MIT labs Marvin Minsky.

Minsky set the groundwork for the idea of virtual presence in his essay entitled Telepresence11. In the essay, he talks about possible uses of technology in the labour market, and was pretty much limited to that area of industry work. Regardless, this essay still stands as a milestone in talking about the virtual and the possibility to work remotely in real time, as it proposes the idea that telepresence, as he sees it, will redefine the immediate, physical presence of humans needed within certain (work related) contexts.

Besides Minsky, the postmodernists wrote about and defined the notion of virtuality and the virtual. Most notably, we can mention Baudrillard and his idea of hyperreality. In defining hyperreality, he proposes a world where technology provides a more intense and involving sensation than life. To him, the realm of hyperreal would enclose what we now define as XR (mixed reality) and Immersive experiences, but also all hyper moderated environments and ideal worlds. To him hyperreality is almost a fault in the system of societal conscious presence, a threat of sorts. In his mind this notion was linked closely to the idea of Simulacrum and he noted that:

Such would be the successive phases of the image:

It is the reflection of a profound reality;

It masks and denatures a profound reality;

It masks the absence of a profound reality;

It has no relation to any reality whatsoever;

It is its own pure simulacrum. 12

Baudrillard also proposes, in his book Passwords, the following: In its current sense, the virtual stands opposed to the real, but its sudden emergence, through the new

11 https://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/papers/Telepresence.html ; accessed 21.5.2020. 12 Baudliard, J; Simulacra and Simulation , Chapter 1, 1994, The Precession of Simulacra: University of Michigan Press. ; accessed on https://web.archive.org/web/20120309115319/https://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/baudrillard- simulacra_and_simulation.pdf ; 21.5.2020.

15 technologies, gives us the sense that it now marks the vanishing of the real.13

However, since these ideas came forth, a lot has happened and something that we can call initial fears of the unknown have been surpassed. With them, a new point of view on the idea of virtuality gained shape. Virtuality and the virtual now stand as a nominators for two points.

Firstly, the virtual used to describe the qualities of the experience when using technology such as virtual reality (VR in short) – so, technology that substitutes immediate sensory perception of the sight via the aid of adequate headsets. In this sense, anything virtual is linked to the possibility of using this technology in creation and representation.

Secondly, and most probably out of the post-modern thread on the hyperreal, the virtual started to denominate something that is illusory, that is perturbing into the ordinal life and is substituting it. In a way – a shield from being actually present in, one can only assume,the true reality (and thus propelling the idea that there is one fixed reality linked to sensory perception, which is a debatable point, but besides the aim of this piece).

Having gone through these threads and for the purpose of this paper, the virtual will be defined as a sensation or quality of experience that overlays imminent physical reality with a secondary meaning or character, therefore making the creation of alternate experiences possible within an otherwise not possible context.

With this definition in mind, virtual presence is an experience in which a portion of linear time and space is determined and devoted to a virtually based format, and that presence is predetermined to an extent by parties or entities not physically present within that time and space. This definition is, in essence, proposing that virtual presence is a beyond (or a meta) quality of both time and space, within a certain, predetermined context.

However, I would like to point out that, intentionally, I have left out any mention of special gear or equipment. This is because virtual presence can be made possible without any tailor made modern equipment, as well as it can be made with its aid. Even though, as

13 Baudrillard, J; Passwords, Chapter The Virtual; 2003, Verso

16 technologies such as AR and mixed reality open doors to very interesting uses of them in this context, virtual presence can be established in varied ways, both with and without the aid of VR or mixed-reality technologies.

With this proposed outline in mind, we start to more clearly see the grid for presenting the possibilities for the use of virtual presence in the work of cultural institutions.

Case studies for virtual presence

We will now take a look at three case studies of virtual presence, and trough them make the notion even clearer.

1. The End by Swim Pony, Philadelphia U.S. , May 2017.

2. Open air exhibition by Fotografiska museet, Stockholm Sweden, April- May 2020

3. Advaita: Apparently Real Virtual Sanctuary, by Maja Maletkovic at SKH, Stockholm Sweden, Launched in May 2020.

By giving context and insight into these three case studies, we will get a clear idea of how each of these cases has achieved virtual presence. We will also look into what means were used to achieve this in regards to formats and experience building elements.

The End by Swim Pony, Philadelphia U.S. , May 2017.

The United States are the most fertile ground to Immersive creation worldwide. According to the impact of Immersive Design Annual Report from 2019, which is one of the most complete surveys from this field, 84,3% of all immersive content is produced and consumed in the U.S. 14

14 R. Brigante , Interactive, Intimate, Experiental:The Impact of Immersive Design; made for the needs of the Immersive design summit 2019, San Francisco, Californifornia; https://immersivedesignsummit.com/2019industryreport.pdf ; accessed 25.5.2020.

17 Within this landscape, we can find numerous possible and adequate examples to illustrate what is meant by virtual presence. I have chosen, for the purpose of this paper, to focus on a production made by Swim Pony, a production company making immersive content based in Philadelphia. The company is run by Artistic Director Adrienne Mackey, who also founded the company.

In 2017., they produced an experience The End. This experience lasted just under a month in May 2017. The company describes the experience with these words:

A package arrives in the mail. Inside is an invitation that reads: Your presence is requested at The End. A date four weeks away follows, but no location is given, yet. Then: What happens between then and now is up to you…

So begins Swim Pony’s The End, an individualized experience combining text message conversation, alternate reality game, and theatrical installation. For 28 days, a mysterious entity called “The End” guides each journeyer via text message to draw a card from their deck, unlocking a corresponding “quest” challenging them to consider mortality or what brings meaning to their life. Over the course of a month, journeyers build a customized mission for their gameplay and reflect with The End about their experiences. At last, on drawing one final card, their initial invitation brings them to a culminating event they will remember for the rest of their lives.15

What Swim Pony did was, trough a series of interventions, created a piece that questioned the relationship between life and death. The experience started with the audience receiving a package that, among other things, contained a deck of tarot cards.

15 https://swimpony.org/current-projects/the-end-2/ ; accessed 25.5.2020.

18 Props for The End, photo by Kata Reines, by courtesy of Swim Pony

The users were somewhat in charge of the rhythm of the interactions, and performers were on the other side of the live – messaging , ready to start the interaction and propel the story. Trough a series of text message exchanges and other formats, all the users (or audience members) were led to assemble in at a final physical event, which was the conclusion of this experience.

The company uses the word game to describe the experience. This word seems well suited – as the experience itself does contain elements of a immersive game. However, it also harvests elements of improvisation and performance , so we can say that the noun game is a well fitted one as a description of format, but used in a more liberal manner.

This example is a good showcase of both deconstructed time and space needed to

19 establish a virtual presence. The duration of this piece is determined by the actions that unfold, and the space is a space that is established by the life of each participant in regards to their individual life circumstances, but is to an extent mapped out by the production team.

Open air exhibition by Fotografiska museet, Stockholm Sweden, April- May 2020

During the outbreak of the Corona virus, museums in Stockholm, as everywhere, were forced to close their doors. The cultural sphere of life of the city was limited, if not non existent.

In the month of April, while the virus spread was very much in its early stage, even though there were no official recommendation and closures of dining facilities in Stockholm, the city was empty. People were mostly just going out for short daily walks around their neighborhoods, with the aim to get their minimal required daily motion.

In this context, one of the most visited museums in Stockholm – Fotografiska Museet, made a program that fits the bill of a virtual presence experience for all of us living in the city. They named this project Open air exhibition, and it was available from 27.4.2020 until 10.5.2020.

In collaboration with an advertising company Clear Channel, this museum – which presents the art of photography – presented selected works by 50 artists. They printed large scale photos, and posted them all around the city centre.

20 matter what.16

This exhibition and its viewing context is a great example of a secondary time and a secondary space of a virtual presence. The time this event took place was during the first, debilitating hit of the pandemic of 2020, as well as during the daily suggested walks most of us were doing if feeling healthy. The space of the event were the streets of the city of Stockholm, which remained the common ground for any type of social life within the given context and a plateau that was disregarding someones health and general background.

This was an extraordinary event that took place within a certain context, and it provided a new layer into the reality we were living. In another context, this event would not have had its impact and significance, as we have witnessed open air exhibits in varied contexts that could not be described as virtual presence. After all, there always are urban and street artists and publicly accessible artworks in our cities, and they do not amount to virtual presence works, at least not most of the time.

However, in the events circumstances, with no usual cultural activities and limited movement and with the downloadable map that we carried in our phones as we searched for the photos, it gained social and cultural significance.

Finally but non the least unimportantly, we will conclude the portion covering this specific event noting that, were it not for the guided map, this event would have been off the radar for a example of virtual presence. It is only trough the scavenger – hunt type of game scripted map, implemented more like a sketch and not to its full potential, that we can stretch the boundaries to include this event into the presentation of showcases in this paper.

I find it important to do this, also noting that since this event, Fotografiska Stockholm has offered something called Visit Fotografiska 3D on their website, stating

16 https://www.fotografiska.com/sto/en/exhibition/open-air-exhibition/ ; accessed 21.5.2002.

22 that: Wherever you are in the world you’ll be able to visit our museum in 3D17.

Here, we see this institution making a equation sign between a digital interface (a 3D model of their exhibition space) with virtual presence. Through this, we see that they are still struggling to make proper use of the technology at hand and make the distinctions that are the bases of this paper. This is exactly why I believe that the Open Air Exhibition should be presented here, regardless, as motivation – be it even with a stretch.

Advaita: Apparently Real Virtual Sanctuary, by Maja Maletkovic at SKH,

Stockholm Sweden, launched in May 2020.

As a part of my studies during my MA course at the Stockholm academy of Arts, the department of Film and media, I developed and experience that was a new mixed, XR format. The idea behind this project came about trough a process of accessing and in a sense merging varied elements, thoughts and inputs.

It starts wit the idea of a sensory room. I was first introduced to the idea of a sensory room while I was working on a project with autistic children in an orphanage in Belgrade, Serbia. The orphanage at hand hosted varied kids and some of them had autism. For them, custodians had developed a sensory room, that, in the words of the social workers that aided them, was a real treat and help. The idea of that sensory room inspired me after I realized how it helped those kids – in its shapes, sizes, colors, materials and rules it gave them that helped them systematize the world around them.

Then, a common space that I'm very inspired by and that I spend time in whenever possible is the prayer and meditation, spiritual room at airports. Sometimes the different religions have different praying rooms but sometimes they don't and there is rather one common space. It is this type of common space rooms I have in mind.I love the quality of these spaces being religiously neutral yet serving as a haven where the basic human need for spiritual connection can be expressed and is integrated into a life of a common space like the airport. Sometimes we see this type of room present and hospitals as well. 17 https://www.fotografiska.com/sto/en/fotografiska-3d/ ; accessed 25.5.2020.

23 Finally, my research during the two years was based around the notion of reality. This investigation led me to approach this notion through the prism of early Buddhism and Hinduism, or, in essence, trough Vedantic philosophy. I have, since, written about these notions in regards to artistic creation – a portion of which can be found in my presentation on Research Catalogue under the title Non-duality and artistic creation18.

Thus an idea arose – how can we create a XR installation that aims to, through offering a space that is a spiritual sanctuary of sorts, give shelter and inspire unity?

This is the starting point for Advaita: Apparently Real Virtual Sanctuary.

In for this experience, we created a prop box that we would send out to our audience, and a VR experience (to be used with a motion tracking VR headset). These two elements make for this two person XR (mixed reality) experience.

Prototype of the props in the experience; Photograph by author

We presented the work in two venues in Stockholm (at my production company, Immersive Bundle as well as at a big film production studio at Filmhuset, as a part of the SKH graduation exhibition). We also sent a number of the outreach boxes around the

18 https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/877585/877586 ; accessed 21.5.2020.

24 into a installation, as if you were with us in Stockholm and in all its key elements. The props and cleared space needed are described, and it can be made in whichever circumstances one has at hand – provided that the computer with adequate headset is available.

To sum up - working on building this experience was a truly interesting and inspiring project. It put to practice all fields of investigation presented here in this paper, and did so first hand and from all potential angles. Learning to make limitations work as a driving force, as well as to reassess what are the elements of space and time we can mould into the meanings we need was a treat and positive and inspiring challenge in its own, specific to the idea at hand.

Future estimates

This paper has made it clear that numerous types of interactions are both already here as well as on the horizon, and that the cultural landscape as we know of it now is set to change in the next century. Even though we have focused, in the showcases, on events that are in part reliant on technology (like mobile phones, websites, VR glasses), they are still used in a context linked to real life.

What we can imagine happening in the years to come, is a blossoming of the works that achieve virtual presence, as well as more understanding when differentiating between the notions of digital interfaces and virtual presence.

This will be achieved through multiplying immersive content events, that showcase virtual presence quite well. In addition, more sensory substitutes would be available for use and experimentation and technology that enables high fidelity (visual) work to be produced will be made more accessible. As these technologies get de-mystified, and as they become more user friendly and cost efficient, so will the possibilities VR and AR means in development of virtual presence.

As the technical infrastructure gets more approachable as well us getting more used to it, we are sure to see a rise of use of virtual presence in the representation and creation within Cultural institutions,both big and small.

26 The number of creators of all sorts that gain insight that understand what is needed to make this type fo work will grow. With this, varied strategic approaches can and will be made to redefine how virtual presence, as well as digital interfaces, will be used.

I want to end this essay with a very important message to the readers. Even if very high fidelity of sensory substitutes can be made (which with the sense of smell and taste will be problematic to an extent, as we are bound to see in the years to come), humans will still want to congregate in real life and consume content ''the old fashioned way''. This is because so much information and so many layers of presence can not be simulated. Still, as technology evolves, we will likely see that physical presence will become a luxury and a treasure of sorts. This is because – only once we are together, we realize and in full capacity, just how strong is our visceral need to be present with each-other in what we call reality.

27 Bibliography

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