COPENHAGEN.- Copenhagen Contemporary is presenting a comprehensive Virtual Reality exhibition under the title CC LAB. Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the biggest emerging trends in the arts, and CC LAB introduces a range of Danish and international artists whose work in this new medium pushes the limits of what the experiential dimension of art can be.

CC LAB occupies two of the huge halls on Papirøen. In Hall 1 the Danish studio Makropol presents the total installation, ANTHROPIA (2017): A VR performance in which visitors are sent on a voyage through the virtual worlds of five different artists.

In Hall 2 works by a number of internationally acclaimed contemporary artists are on show – each presenting their individual interpretation of how VR can be used in the arts. The artists normally work in a wide variety of media: painting, sculpture, installation and video. In the new VR works produced by Khora Contemporary these traditional media are integrated, and the exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity to explore virtual universes created by Christian Lemmerz (GE/DK), Paul McCarthy (US), Tony Oursler (US) and Erik Parker (GE/US). In Hall 2 it is also possible to experience the recognized VR drawing program Ti;t Brush.

As a part of CC’s autumn programme VR is taken into the laboratory investigating the new and seemingly limitless reality of VR. It can transport you to strange places and off into dreamlike universes, as you stand in the middle of an exhibition space. While it has been an inspiration for game developers for years, artists and storytellers are still in their infancy when it comes to exploring the possibilities of VR.

HALL 1
In recent years the Danish studio Makropol has made a name for itself in the VR world, presenting works both at home and abroad. Now they occupy CC’s Hall 1 with the large-scale 400-m2 VR total installation, ANTHROPIA.

ANTHROPIA is a cinematic VR performance, in which performance art, installation art and VR meet in a 60-minute-long event. In CC’s huge hall visitors, wearing VR goggles, will wander freely through the installation, which correlates on a scale of 1:1 with the physical scenography of the exhibition space. The work’s ceremonial narrative is divided into five chapters and takes place on a miniature golf course. The road to ANTHROPIA starts on Fairway 1, but with every step you take into synthetic reality, all that is familiar gradually dissolves, and a new reality takes shape. ANTHROPIA is Makropol’s latest and most ambitious work to date, and is part of their interaesthetic project, TRAVERSE - an encounter between artists from different disciplines in a single work. ANTHROPIA is written and directed by Johan Knattrup Jensen and produced by Mads Damsbo. The artists responsible for the video chapters are Therese Willstedt (SE), Rikke Benborg (DK), Ali Abbasi (IR), Julian Juhlin (DK) and Johan Knattrup Jensen (DK).

HALL 2
Another important player on the Danish VR scene is the production company Khora Contemporary, whose vision is to build bridge between art and VR technology. In Hall 2 CC presents a range of works created by international artists and produced by Khora Contemporary..