Originally designed to be explored as part of the Immerse Festival in the City of Knox, Void-atrium is a mystical artwork that invites audiences to wander through hand-drawn Farsi text, neon-lines, and soundscapes in public and private spaces via an augmented reality mobile app.
To experience the work:
Click on one of the buttons below to install the app on iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone, then open the app and follow the instructions to view the work either at home or at the public festival locations:
The work is designed to be walked around and through and asks us to contemplate emptiness as we engage in this parallel movement through somatic and digital spaces.
For those with mobility issues, there is also a version of the work can be traversed using on-screen controls.
For all versions of the work, we recommend experiencing it while wearing headphones.
Biographies
Born in Tehran, Farnaz Dadfar is an artist based on Gadigal Country (Sydney) who works in the mediums of installation, text, and video to examine cultural identity and postcolonial issues. Drawing from personal narrative, Dadfar explores the concept of linguistic diaspora and flâneur through a lens of displacement and migration.
Susannah Langley is a visual artist whose practice is rooted in experimental drawing, installation and sound, using unconventional media such as conductive material, found objects, and virtual reality to explore ideas of history, memory, movement, feeling, and space. Since 2013, she has collaborated on works that people can move through, and touch, to summon stories and soundscapes.
The app that houses the work was developed by Warren Armstrong, who is a digital media artist whose practice encompasses augmented reality, virtual reality, interactive installation art, and mobile/web app-based artworks. He has collaborated on works that have been shown at Dark Mofo, Vivid Ideas, Melbourne Festival, ISEA (Istanbul), Bristol Biennale (UK), Vrystaat Vrynge (South Africa), Virtuale Switzerland, Cairns Festival, Horizon Festival, Spectra Festival, Gertrude Street Projection Festival and Melbourne Fringe. In 2017, he was winner of the Paramor Prize for Art + Innovation, with Susannah Langley.