Bodysuits, custom scents and snacks: Symbiosis at Portland’s PAM CUT challenges our view of reality - Oregon Public Broadcasting

Imagine stepping into an elaborate custom-designed bodysuit and embarking connected an immersive journey, 200 years successful the future, wherever you person to accommodate to a collapsing ecosystem. This is Symbiosis, an extended world acquisition that includes not conscionable show and dependable (as successful a accepted virtual world experience), but besides touch, odor and taste. Symbiosis had its U.S. premiere past period astatine the Portland Art Museum’s Center for An Untold Tomorrow (formerly the Northwest Film Center).

It was created by the Dutch plan collective Polymorf. Oregon Art Beat shaper Eric Slade spoke with Symbiosis co-directors Marcel van Brakel and Mark Meeuwenoord astir the relation of creation successful biology crises, their love/hate narration with technology, and a aboriginal wherever you mightiness beryllium capable to acquisition your dog’s happiness.

Mark Meeuwenoord and Marcel van Brakel, creators of the extended world acquisition Symbiosis.

Eric Slade / OPB

Eric Slade: What bash you anticipation radical instrumentality distant from Symbiosis?

Marcel van Brakel: I deliberation wrong Symbiosis radical person to fto spell of their quality assemblage position, their assemblage architecture, and determination towards a antithetic perspective, not lone successful a intelligence oregon philosophical mode but besides successful a carnal way.

And what I noticed during the aboriginal experiments successful the workplace is that it not lone changes however you acquisition your assemblage but besides however you acquisition reality. It opens up caller abstraction for caller perspectives.

We are of people precise disquieted astir what’s happening to the satellite now. And I deliberation that the existent authorities wherever everything is built and created lone to service humans and their quality needs is not sustainable anymore. We person to alteration that. Something needs to beryllium done fundamentally differently.

Mark Meeuwenoord: I deliberation arsenic artists you person this accidental to research the possibilities of rethinking with the tools and the cognition you tin really do. For example, we truly noticed VR is expected to beryllium the “empathy machine.” It’s the happening that tin really enactment you successful this different perspective. And it tin for your head. But what astir the assemblage itself? How bash you get successful that different perspective? So I deliberation that’s the conception we tried to challenge.

Symbiosis is an extended world acquisition astatine the Portland Art Museum's Center for an Untold Tomorrow, moving until Feb. 12, 2023.

Courtesy of Polymorf

Slade: Tell maine much astir however you attack analyzable societal issues from your position arsenic artists.

van Brakel: I deliberation by playing astir successful this virtual world of what mightiness beryllium you bid yourself for aboriginal scenarios. And I deliberation that’s the biggest value of being a storyteller is that you connection that to humanity.

And if you bash that good immoderate things volition instrumentality and volition beryllium transferred to different people. If the happening is truly almighty it volition beryllium copied into different brains similar a virus. And it volition dispersed itself and radical volition assistance it grow.

As an creator sometimes you consciousness similar calling successful the godforsaken and nobody’s proceeding you, but I deliberation it’s not true. If you marque almighty stories you really person powerfulness to alteration stuff.

Symbiosis takes guests connected an immersive travel 200 years successful the aboriginal wherever they indispensable face a collapsing ecosystem. Participants volition spot environments specified arsenic this.

courtesy of Polymorf

Slade: It looks similar immoderate precise analyzable exertion you usage to make Symbiosis.

Meeuwenoord: I truly similar and hatred (laughs) the complexity of each the facets of this. There’s the dependable part, there’s the ocular part, there’s the coding part, there’s the hardware portion and I effort to research it all. But I deliberation that the starting constituent is to ever situation ourselves.

We usage 7 antithetic computers. They person to speech to each other, they person to service the VR, they person to service each sorts of pneumatic systems that are connected to the VR itself. We person to constitute our ain bundle to beryllium capable to marque that each interactive.

And we truly similar that this technology, you tin interaction it, you spot it working, and you spot yourself being connected to it.

Slade: What bash you spot arsenic the aboriginal of this benignant of exertion oregon this benignant of experience? Where bash you deliberation it’s going to go?

van Brakel: I don’t cognize astir the aboriginal of XR (extended reality) due to the fact that that’s the amusive happening astir it -— it volition alteration each the time. And that’s truly what it should be. It should beryllium changing successful places wherever we don’t expect it to be. That’s what we find astir amusive to do.

Meeuwenoord: A batch of technologies really being developed close present are astir predicting what’s going to hap next. And I deliberation possibly we should not cognize immoderate worldly and beryllium amazed sometimes and not beryllium successful control. Because each these technologies are astir control, control, power and foretell and foretell and predict. I would similar to spot much astonishing forms of technologies successful the future.

van Brakel: With Polymorf we did an experimentation with hormonal storytelling, similar wholly successful body, with hormones influencing the encephalon straight alternatively of with thing extracurricular of the body. But the subject is not determination yet. It’s mode excessively hard to foretell what happens if we benignant of premix up hormones to make an affectional journey. But I deliberation possibly successful the aboriginal we volition beryllium capable to benignant of marque an affectional transplant with you and your dog. So if the canine is truly happy, you consciousness the aforesaid thing. I’m waiting for that benignant of worldly (laughs).

So I don’t cognize if that’s the future, but we decidedly deliberation that the aboriginal of exertion volition beryllium much feminine. It volition beryllium much chemical, biological, hybrid, fluid than the existent one.

Meeuwenoord: We anticipation so.

van Brakel: We anticipation so.

Symbiosis is sold retired done the extremity of its PAM CUT run.