Perceiving the Borders of Reality
Perceiving the Borders of Reality is an experiment on how we observe violent images within a VR environment. The sharp, physical boundaries of the virtual world that you can not escape from, emulate the political borders in the Middle East. It also reflects the rational borders that enter our conscience when viewing violent Images in the media.The work questions whether we have become too desensitised to the point that we can no longer distinguish between what is real.
For many years, there have been regional disputes in the world. Wars are not only contained in a specific territory but also expand to other areas. These conflicts have an effect on us wherever we live. Energy sources and freedom are some of the reasons why these conflicts are different. Other reasons are religion and politics. In the end, society accepts the violence unwillingly or pretends not to know about it. Variations in technology and communication affect how people make propaganda for their wars. The reality that covers a place in the space means everything, independently from our thoughts. It exists without being dependent on a human’s mind. From a different perspective, reality (truth) is unique to everybody’s mind. In the direction of our understanding (perception), we perceive reality. Today, there are many different techniques for producing images of our reality. The most prevalent evidence of the truth is photography.
Contrary to general belief, a photograph does not represent reality completely but implies it. VR technology, connected with an augmented and mixed reality concept, is improving in entertainment and educational areas. Instead of using the photographs published in these conventional ways, I represent the images in a VR environment to question the connection to reality through this medium.
My special thanks to Ursula Damm and Jörg Brinkmann for their support.
Perceiving the Borders of Reality / environment.01/Saladin
Perceiving the Borders of Reality / environment.01/Saladin
Perceiving the Borders of Reality / environment.02/Al Bukamal
Perceiving the Borders of Reality / environment.02/Al Bukamal
Perceiving the Borders of Reality / environment.03/Deir ez-Zor
Perceiving the Borders of Reality / environment.03/Deir ez-Zor
Process
Unity 3D, Htc Vive-Virtual Reality Glasses
Three different terrains were created in Unity3D using execution images.The terrain was created as a rectangular form, as if being drawn with a ruler, like the borders of some Middle Eastern countries. These straight borders are often politically unstable. You can navigate in the terrains, but cannot pass through the borderlines. When you look up, the reflection of the terrain can be seen and the coordinates of the previously passed places can be followed from the reflection. Names that are constantly seen around the terrain are places where the executions happened.
Unity3D process
Installation views
Çağdaş Biber 