Concrete Entanglements

Concrete Entanglements is a Virtual Reality work created in collaboration with Seniors from the class of 2017 in the Art and Technology Program at the University of Florida.
The participant dons a VR headset to find herself imprisoned behind concrete walls topped with barb wire. Through the powers of intense concentration and focus, individual blocks can be removed from the wall by staring intently, waiting until they explode from the wall. As each block is removed the sun rises higher in the sky and flowers bloom as an unbounded landscape is revealed. Eventually, collectively, the wall becomes unstable and collapses.
The soundtrack is composed of samples of Michael Snow’s performance of The Papaya Plantations from 1980, and a track composed by Alberto Semper. Snow performed a solo by playing a radio, surfing the shortwave frequencies of the global signal. As participants progress through the process of demolishing the wall, the soundtrack dynamically morphs into Semper’s hopeful, liberating soundbed suggesting a brighter future.
Concrete Entanglements was created using Unity3D, Google Cardboard and an Occipital Bridge headset. The work was simultaneously projected onto the wall of the installation environment allowing viewers the ability to participate or simply watch as the walls came tumbling down.