Ryan Gander Ryan Waiting, 2024

VIVE Arts and Esther Schipper are delighted to announce the debut of multidisciplinary artist Ryan Gander’s first ever artificial intelligence virtual reality artwork as part of the artist’s solo presentation THIS IS FEELING ALL OF IT at Esther Schipper, Berlin. The second of an ongoing collaboration between the arts initiative and the gallery, the work is co-commissioned and presented by VIVE Arts, in partnership with Esther Schipper and organised with Olivier Renaud-Clément.

Exhibited as both a individual headset experience and a wrap-around environment of monitors for visitors to walk into, Ryan Waiting features an avatar of the artist waiting in an empty, perimeter-less landscape, showcasing an uncanny life-likeness due to motion capture which retains characteristic gestures and body language.

Acting as a durational hundred-year performance and taking two years to develop, the avatar’s actions are continually self-written in real-time, whether there is a spectator watching or not; affected by time of day and external data gathered from the internet, the avatar’s mood is in constant flux.

Gander can be found waiting; evoking a sense of futility and purposelessness that emulates life and addresses the spectacularisation of the everyday. The experience highlights the state of being in-between—waiting—even deliberately ignoring any supposed audience. Gander’s work shifts the emphasis onto a rare commodity in today’s life—doing nothing, waiting, enjoying boredom, ennui—traditionally the state of inspiration, creativity, and sudden ideas. But, what is Ryan waiting for? Clearly not us, as the avatar seems to deliberately avoid us.

Engaging with the hyper-stimulation of our times, Gander chooses time and distraction as his subjects, poignantly emphasising the lack of distractions. In Ryan Waiting, visitors grapple both with anticipation and reflection while peering at the artist’s avatar lingering in wait or making some sort of everyday minutia of movement. Beyond the persistent room tone, the soundscape encountered by visitors includes specific diegetic sounds caused by the avatar’s actions, for example: Whistling, Yawning, Movement noises, Sighing.

It’s important to note that this work will outlive us all. Addressing the question of legacy, both as a digital artwork that will endure for a century, and as a virtual manifestation of the artist, how will this digital artwork operate in a hundred years? What will happen when the performance ends? This again is left to the audience to ponder on.

Ryan Gander explains, “Ryan Waiting is a reflection of our attention and distraction. We all know the more sensational things get the more desensitised we become. Humans have entered an era of constantly turning up the volume... We all want bangs, continuously. We all want flashing lights and content that changes every five seconds… It feels like evolution has peaked and we are devolving... this is where I started. I wanted this work to be a real active critique of sensationalism, to hold back entertainment and find something that was true or closer to the reality of being alive, which generally, at times can be quite terrifying and boring at once.” 

Celina Yeh, Executive Director of VIVE Arts, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Ryan Gander in realising his first-ever AI VR work, and to partner for a second time with Esther Schipper on the commissioning and presentation of artist projects that transcend traditional concepts of artmaking and inspire new modes of thinking. Our facilitation of Gander’s visionary work reflects and advances VIVE Arts’ mission to foster artistic innovation and create partnerships that empower artists to develop groundbreaking work and awe-inspiring experiences through the use of new and immersive technologies.”

Artist/Production
Artist: Ryan Gander
Exhibition and Production Manager: Emily Bryson
Technical Direction: Pixels Pixels
Technical Producer: Ivaylo Getov
Animation Supervisor: Corey Stisser
Pipeline: Chris Nelder
Animation: Annie Lund, Kyle Holmsen
Lead Modellers: Miwa Espinoza, Michele Recio
Modelling / Texturing: Erin Jung
Rigging: Hiram Araujo, Raymond Norton
Additional Production Support: Veronica So
Motion Capture by Move.ai:  Charlie McKay, Ross Cohen
 
VIVE Arts
Executive Director: Celina Yeh
Head of Programme: Samantha King
Head of Global Partnerships: Leigh Tanner
Curatorial and Project Managers: Oxana Chvyakina / Nina Weng  
Technical Advisors: Marcus Nixon, Josh Vizcaino
 
Esther Schipper
Director: Manuel Miseur
Commission Organiser: Olivier Renaud-Clément
Artist Liaison: Jannik Konle