Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Endodrome, Virtual reality environment, Courtesy of the artist
‘As opposed to viewing virtual reality as a tool for an escape or for constructing an artificial world, it is more interesting for me to envision it as a kind of organic and mental space in which it is possible to question abstraction and consciousness. Endodrome is a place where VR can be experienced both indoors and outdoors, offering an organic and imaginary journey to discover a slightly altered state of consciousness’ explains Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster in a text published for Casino Luxembourg.
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Endodrome, Installation view. Courtesy of the artist
Endodrome is the art of the future, referring to the past. That is why the references to the spiritual and photographic practices of the end of the 19th century become relevant.
As we know the concept of the immortal soul was central to the religious movement of spiritualism that arose in the middle of the 19th century, which was based on the belief in the autonomous existence of non-material substances invisible to the earthly world - spirits, as well as on the belief in the possibility of establishing communications between the space of their stay and the world of living people, using the gift of an intermediary - medium. An important component of mediumistic séances, an important practice of spiritualists, was often the presence of a photographic device for documenting what was happening. Thus, the camera becomes an indispensable tool for capturing the phenomenon of materialisation: hardly visible translucent clots or individual parts of spirits, as well as their full incarnations. In the view of a person who believes in spiritualism, a photosensitive emulsion on a photographic plate was a kind of portal between two worlds. In its purpose and properties, it resembled an unusual substance, a material for the materialisation of spirits - ectoplasm.
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Endodrome, Installation view. Courtesy of the Casino Luxembourg, 2023
It turns out that the role of an intermediary between the visible and invisible world nowadays is assigned to the virtual reality headset. VR is now primarily responsible for the magic of the camera of the past to create something from nothing. The eight-minute Endodrome experience in the staged space can be lived simultaneously by five participants of the session through appealing to the visual and sonorous rhythm of the projections of individual visions, realised by the change of the angle of view and their own breathing. Finding themselves in a monochrome and abstract environment of parallel reality, participants plunge into a special hypnotic trance, referring to the aesthetics of science-fiction and the iconography of spiritual photography.
In 2023, the exhibition space of Casino Luxembourg once again exposes the versatility of the Endodrome project, challenging the search for new interpretations and meanings.
Soundscape: Corine Sombrun
Architect / Designer: Martial Galfione
Executive Producer: HTC Vive Arts
Executive Producer: Lucid Realities
VR development: Novelab
Public exhibitions:
Casino Luxembourg (from February 18 to April 16, 2023 - Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)
The 58th Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition (from May 11 to November 24, 2019 - Venice, Italy)
Bundeskunsthalle - Farbe ist Program (from April 8 to August 7, 2022 - Bonn, Germany)
LUMA Foundation (2021 - Arles, France. Permanent collection)
Cover image: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Endodrome, Installation view. Courtesy of the artist.
