SurrealWorld
What
We created VR worlds representing surrealist art by René Magritte and Vladimir Kush. We built the worlds using Unity.
Goals of the Project
- Turn the 2d paintings to a 3d world
- Make the images portals into the worlds
- Navigate through the worlds seamlessly
“Magic of the Sunset” painting by Vladimir Kush
Here is the VR recreation.
“Golconda” By Rene Magritte
Here is the VR recreation.
A close up of the characters. Made in Adobe Fuse.
Here a video of the project in action.
How
Programs
- Unity
- Adobe Fuse
- Mixamo
We built the terrain using Unity terrain tools, and imported assets from the Unity asset store for items like the screws and houses.
The characters in Golconda were made in Adobe Fuse and the plug in Mixamo for animation.
For traveling between worlds we used scripts with the SceneManager.LoadScene function.
Why
We live in a rational world. The number of questions without answers is decreasing at break-neck speeds. Astrophysicist would disagree with this, but companies like Google, Intel, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple are consistently making it easier for us to find answers we need… to just about anything. For over a decade now, those living in developed nations have been conditioned by the internet to think that there is always an answer, or reasonable explanation for the phenomenons that occur in life. We know exactly why a rainbows forms, when a total solar eclipse will happen, and what the weather will be like tomorrow. We expect answers when we have questions.
Philosopher Max Weber calls this modern age the age of disenchantment. Because of our unprecedented access to information, he says, we devalue mysticism in exchange for rational knowledge. Not long ago, phenomena such as rainbows and eclipses were mystical events that inspired awe in humans. These events are still extraordinary, but the magical glow has dimmed significantly. Rainbows are complex reflections of light, the eclipse is a very rare, yet calculable event. The internet gives us unprecedented access to knowledge and information at the cost od magic from the natural world.
But,
The internet has the power to create new magic, and Virtual Reality is the best manifestation of that magic.
Brief History of Surrealism
Surrealist art began in France during the 1920s, immediately following the end of the first world war. After the war unemployment skyrocketed, food was scarce, and government subsidized housing buildings were implemented all over the country. This struggle gave birth to a booming French economy from 1921-1931 where Paris reclaimed its reputation as the capital of art, music, literature, and cinema. The low prices and artistic opportunity attracted the generations best artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Ernest Hemingway.
Why Surrealism is so cool and is perfect VR
Art is a visual representation of imagination. I have always been fascinated by the many forms of imagination, the more abstract it is the better. For this reason I have always loved paintings, and I especially appreciate surreal paintings because of the radical imagination and thought that goes into them.
Surrealism is unique because it combines elements of philosophy, current events, and unexpected artistic juxtapositions to create worlds that lived on the peripheral of what is considered mainstream art. Surrealism packs so much meaning into art and is interpreted differently by everyone. For these reasons, it is the perfect experience to bring to VR. Its a medium that allows for interpreting some of the coolest art ever made in a whole new, immersive way.
Goals for the future
This project was great for introducing me to Unity and makings things for VR. We had so much experiencing these paintings in VR that we will be continuing to recreate them. There are so many amazing works of art that should be experienceable in VR.
Our next step is to upload our world(s) to the internet so that others can experience what we made. We would also love to create a website/platform that enables others to upload and share their own VR/surreal worlds.