Introduction
VIVE Arts and Esther Schipper are delighted to announce Ben Elliot’s Metaone. Mimicking a futuristic interior inspired by metaverse aesthetics and representing the lifestyles of tomorrow, the presentation includes virtual reality (VR) headsets in an environment with a video work, chair, curtain artwork and printed images pulling from the VR imagery.
At the center of Metaone is Ben Elliot’s ambitious XR metaverse project which aims to redefine our relationship to the creative space and be a vessel for forward-thinking cultural forms. Divided into four distinct environments, the Metaone VR artwork explores XR (extended reality) with the technologies of the VIVE headset. Metaone offers viewers an immersive exploration of cutting-edge ideas and values. The guided experience, which includes a soundscape by Kingdom, first takes visitors to SHAPE, an area that is a space for discussions on future architecture, design, and web3 aesthetics. DEEP will take viewers on a dreamlike journey into the world of data and AI. INFINITE imagines unlimited creativity through generative software. And in ZEN, viewers can discover a tranquil, sensory space, designed to promote well-being and foster a beneficial connection to the metaverse. Elliot imagines a virtual paradise that represents a future world where history, nature, technology and science intertwine and enhance one another.
A curtain work and a printed tapestry, both with imagery taken from the aesthetics of the metaverse environment known as SHAPE, situate viewers. Elliot uses curtains as integral parts of his environments, where they can function as stand-alone artworks but also as sets for three-dimensional works and as dividing elements. A short film, Metaone (introduction), conceived to echo the format of a promotional campaign video, is screened on a table with an inset monitor. The video highlights Metaone’s different environments alongside Ben Elliot’s avatar. The video work is inspired by the aesthetics of digital campaigns made for social networks. It aims to promote Metaone for those unable to access the VR or exhibition, and serves as an introduction mirroring the VR experience, and demonstrating the future potential of the project. It also functions as a standalone artwork.
Nearby, visitors will find a chair entitled Xchair, inviting them to linger inside the Metaone project. Produced in collaboration with Nagami, the long chair is part of a series of elements that comprise a room created to offer a glimpse into the future. Cutting-edge design and technology make the chair the nexus between the digital and the physical, the use of 3D printing and recycled polymer aligning with values of environmental friendliness. Conceived in response to a new generation’s way of life, its ergonomics is developed for XR use, being on a phone, working on a computer, reading, eating, or simply relaxing, be it indoors or out.
The project is co-commissioned and presented by VIVE Arts, a global arts initiative that empowers artists to experiment and innovate, using the latest digital tools and mediums, in partnership with Esther Schipper and organised with Olivier Renaud-Clément.