as part of the Oltre le mura / Beyond the walls project

New Departures is an event that intends to explore new technologies, and in particular Virtual Reality in relation to the performing arts, starting from the experience of CREW, a Belgian collective, pioneeer in this field.

The event, with the collaboration of Ecosistemi Artificiali, takes place in hybrid mode, in person and online, with the following programme:

– a live video connection with Brussels during which Eric Joris & Isjtar, multidisciplinary artists, and Haryo Sukmawanto, technician, will accompany the public around the CREW studio and tell its history in order to illustrate their main principles for VR that support the use and notion of a transitional space: liveness, movement, tactility, inside-outside scenography as well as the (non)necessity for storytelling, the role of the performer, the statute of the immersant

– live demo will also be presented that shows the techniques/tools/technology that CREW has developed in the last two years in in two successive EU research programmes: PRESENT and MAX-R. www.upf.edu/web/max-r and that they want to work out further in the upcoming projects: scanning, Greek Chorus, large area, multiplayer.

– a time for questions from the public and students from IED Istituto Europeo di Design and discussion, moderated by Cecilia Lentini and Giordano Fiacchini, on the issues and horizons opened by new technologies in their application in the field of artistic creation

CREW is an international team of researchers, performers, technologists, dramaturgs, musicians, programmers, writers and designers with currently at its core two artists: Eric Joris and Isjtar Vandebroeck.
CREW was founded by Eric Joris in 1990 and has been a trailblazer in linking art and science. Various technologies were developed for the artistic needs of CREW, for example putting the first VR headset on a theater stage with the help of the University of Hasselt in 2003.
CREW is currently working on new productions that redefine the role of performer, immersant* and audience in XR performance.
crew.brussels/en

Oltre le mura / Beyond the walls is a project by Fondazione Fabbrica Europa per le arti contemporanee that proposes performative activities, installations and workshops focused on the themes of community, body, movement and virtual reality, created by international and local artists with the aim of encouraging cultural participation in decentralized areas of Florence.
The programme includes a series of actions that intend to promote access to contemporary artistic practices and create real and virtual spaces of interaction and connection between artists and communities.

The project is part of

CREW’s research is supported by