“Life is beautiful. Always.” VR and Art installation

About

“Life is beautiful. Always” at the Farm Street Church Hall

Presentation of VR and Art installation that addresses mental health and an evening with artists.

Dominic Green (Filmmaker) Daniel Bacchus (VR, multi media specialist and digital design) both senior lecturers at Sheffield Hallam University in collaboration with multi disciplinary artist Marcel Schreur will present an insightful and entertaining evening. 

Visual art and cutting edge technology can lead to a better understanding and affect positive societal, if not humanitarian, change.

Opening times:

Thursday the 27th of June from 3- 7pm

Friday the 28th of June from 12 to 7pm

Saturday from 12 to 7pm

An evening with the artists on Friday the 28th of June from 18.30 to 20.30 with some wine and a few nibbles.

'Life is Beautiful. Always.' is a virtual reality exploration into the unique life experience of multi-disciplinary artist, Marcel Schreur; thirty year oral cancer and seven year vascular dementia survivor. Diagnosed by specialists as a medical phenomenon, Schreur has lived most of his adulthood fighting life threatening illnesses.

Developed through an iterative proces of interviews, proto types and personal responses from Schreur, the work generates a space that allows participants to consider aspects of their own mental processes through a lens of difference and dissability, to embody some of the physical charicteristics of Schreur's condition and to facilitate communication about the experience of living with life-altering dissability between sufferers, non-sufferers and medical proffesionals.

Some comments on the VR work:

'Thought provoking and ground breaking work.’

‘I feel so lucky to have had the chance to experience something so touching. The VR really brought a completely “real” experience that would have been hard to achieve in any other way.’

‘Such an interesting change of perspective - the ability to be immersed in someone else’s head is fascinating.’

‘Virtual Reality has found a purpose with this exhibition.’

‘What a fantastic way to promote insight into the ways in which someone sees the world...Moving, engaging, at times alarming. A wonderful time, totally unexpected.’

‘It really pushes the boundaries of human understanding of the experience of another. Terrifying at points and I am so glad I was able to experience it. I feel I can go forward with a new viewpoint on what people with disabilities can experience.’

‘Incredibly powerful. The sense of fear/disorientation felt so real. I can see huge potential, this is helping to develop some understanding of the lived experience of illness/disability.’