QUAD GALLERY:
DIGITAL PARTICIPATORY AiR
Working as a virtual abstract painter, I always follow developments in VR technologies. There is an element to VR painting that I have been keen to pursue for sometime and that is multiplayer creation, where more than one virtual painter can work together in the same virtual space. Through software development, this is now possible.
My time at QUAD Gallery in Derby, as Digital Participatory Artist in Residence (2023) gave me the opportunity to run a project exploring collaborative ways of making virtual abstract paintings. I ran a series of skills-sharing workshops with a group of young people, helping them start to develop their own aesthetic through using virtual painting software, and experimental abstract mark and pattern making.
During this process I developed the idea of a painting plan or score, where elements, such as which brush to use or what colours to work with were made through group decisions. Then simple directions to allow us to make an artwork together were made by one of the group taking the lead.
The most successful of these test VR paintings scores are ‘Links’ (2023) and ‘Rib’ (2023), from which I later produced two animated (un-scored) shorts from these collaboratively made virtual abstract paintings. This project is the beginning of an exploration into the physicality and performative potential for collaborative making and virtual painting. Below are a collection of photos, stills and films taken from those workshops.
