[EOL]. End of Life
🎬 TRAILER
What do abandoned virtual places feel like? How much life remains in the digital image of the deceased? Who am «I» in the presence of the absent? And what has no place in the future metaverse of large corporations?
In «[EOL]. End of Life», the artist duo DARUM uses the emerging medium of virtual reality to venture a glimpse into a possible, not-too-distant future. As «outsourced freelancers» of the fictional trillion-dollar corporation IRL (Imaginary Reality Landscapes), the audience takes on the role of those who will determine which content will have a place in the flourishing virtual parallel worlds of tomorrow—and which will be irretrievably deleted. «[EOL]. End of Life» confronts these virtual travellers with a multitude of explorable, three-dimensional worlds and a no lesser number of human traces. For in version 1.0 of this already disintegrating, abandoned «metaverse,» disconnected from online servers, the digital echo of past existences awaits—and with it, the question of how we will (want to) be remembered.
DARUM (Victoria Halper and Kai Krösche) creates performances, installations, films, and sound, video, and media art works that strive to focus attention on the irreconcilable and contradictory, and the exceptional states and phenomena often associated with them in our society. All their projects are always preceded by the fundamental question of «Why?»
On 9.5. at 18:00, an Artist Talk with DARUM together with Ania Nowak will take place at the Festival Centre. The talk will be broadcast live on Radio RaBe.
Easy Read
For this performance, you put on VR glasses. It's like being inside a computer game. You have to solve a puzzle and encounter surprising characters.
Content Notes
This production addresses death, terminal illness, and includes a brief reference to suicide, within an eerie atmosphere.
This production is a fully immersive virtual reality experience designed as a walkable installation in which the audience will often stand or move; there are limited (optional) moments of sitting on the floor. Each visitor is provided with approximately 10 square meters of free movement space.
The production’s environment includes claustrophobic rooms, maze-like architecture, and huge, empty spaces.
The production cannot be paused once started and will end automatically if interrupted, though cancellation is possible at any time.
The production requires hand-tracking using the left thumb and one index finger and does not use controllers.
Using VR headsets may cause motion sickness in individual cases.
Note that the VR headset's emission of radio waves may interfere with medical devices (e.g., pacemakers, hearing aids, defibrillators).
Sensory Triggers
Intense VR illusions
Maze-like architecture
Claustrophobic spaces
Huge and empty spaces
Flickering and flashing lights
Strobe lights
Moments of darkness
Blackout
Loud noises and sounds
Whispering
Social Story
Social stories are used as a tool to prepare people for a public event, such as a theatre performance. Our social stories provide a detailed description of what to expect at the venue and the customs that apply there. You can find the (German) PDF of the «[EOL]. End of life» social story here.
Special Check-In
We offer a special check-in option. If for any reason you'd like to avoid the crowded foyer, or would like to be picked up at the bus stop, please contact us in advance. A member of our team will accompany you according to your needs.
Register: checkin@auawirleben.ch
- Directed and story by
- Victoria Halper and Kai Krösche (DARUM)
- 3D-design and virtual set design
- Mark Surges
- Music
- Arthur Fussy
- Live stage design
- Matthias Krische
- Character design and animation, costume design, photogrammetry scanning, motion capturing and videos
- Victoria Halper
- 3D object animation
- Kai Krösche and Mark Surges
- Creative coding, motion capturing, lighting design and additional sound design
- Kai Krösche
- Drawings (school)
- Alexander Tingrui Wülferth
- Testing and artistic feedback
- David Rosenberg, Matthias Krische, Matthias Seier, Flori Gugger, Arthur Fussy and Armin Kirchner
- Special thanks to
- Sophia Scherbaum
- With
- Victoria Halper, Kai Krösche and James Stanson
We would like to thank our interview partners:
From the Center for Art and Media Karlsuhe: Götz Dipper, Bernd Lintermann, Tina Lorenz, Felix Mitterberger, Dorcas Müller, Morgane Stricot.
Susanna Neueder MSc. (Psyducated)
Funded by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna and the Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport.
The artistic development of [EOL]. End of Life was supported by a residency at the Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany.
A project selected by the platform Prospero NEW, co-funded by Creative Europe programme of the European Union.