January 24th, 2012
Eastbourne’s award-winning contemporary art museum is inviting visitors to step into a frozen other world this weekend, with the opening of a new interactive exhibition using computer game technology and inspired by the snow-driven mountains of the Canadian Rockies.
VISITOR has been created by BAFTA-nominated art duo Gibson / Martelli who work together as igloo, and visitors to the exhibition are promised an immersive experience of the icy wilderness in two new installation works, which open on Saturday.
Visitors are invited to enter Vermilion Lake, a full-scale replica of a trapper’s cabin inside which, a surprising feature awaits them… The intrepid will be able to explore an eerie, frozen virtual world, navigating their way using a combination of physical motion and video game technology.
An accompanying moving image piece, where the bears are sleeping, complements the cabin with a backdrop of images of glaciers, forests and frozen lakes.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure Cllr Neil Stanley said “We are very excited to open VISITOR this weekend and offer something completely different for visitors to Towner. VISITOR is not only an exhibition, it’s a completely unique experience, where visitors can really interact with the installation. With plenty of VISITOR inspired workshops and events coming up at Towner over the next few months too, there will be lots of ways for visitors to make the most of the free exhibition and experience the Canadian Rockies without leaving Eastbourne!”
Vermilion Lake and where the bears are sleeping both evoke feelings of either a friendly or malevolent force – the hunter being hunted or the tracker being tracked. Video game techniques are used to virtually bring the external environment into Towner’s gallery space.
VISITOR opens at Towner this Saturday, 28 January, and is open until 1 April, with several events planned to encourage visitors to learn more about the exhibition.
The Artists Talk takes place next Saturday, 4 February, when visitors can hear igloo artists Gibson and Martelli talk about their practice, use of video game technology and the VISITOR exhibition. Six free film screenings over the same weekend will show Manufactured Landscapes, a film that has inspired the artists.
For more information on the exhibition and other VISITOR events coming up at Towner, including children’s and family events for half-term week, go to the website.
