Barney Steel and Marshmallow Laser Feast: VR Art Decenters the Human

Barney Steel, co-founder and creative director of London-based collective Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF), creates virtual reality installations that challenge human perception by visualizing invisible ecological connections. Their works, such as 'In the Eyes of the Animal' (2016), 'Treehugger Wawona' (awarded at Tribeca Storyscapes Award 2017), and 'We Live in an Ocean of Air' (2018), offer embodiment experiences that shift perspective from anthropocentric to interconnected views of ecosystems. Steel argues that the perception of separation is an illusion, and that VR can reveal nested ecosystems within the body. He draws parallels to Tibetan Buddhism's concept of prana (breath) and cites a parable by Thích Nhất Hạnh about a cloud named Jeff to illustrate interconnectedness. MLF installations are currently on view at Museum WAVE in Seoul until September 17, at BBK Klima in Bizkaia, Spain until October 31, and at Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City, Canada until January 4, 2024. Steel discusses how VR overcomes language limitations in describing sensory experiences, and how the capitalist narrative of independence contrasts with the reality of interdependence. Future projects include exploring embodiment as a mosquito, frog, or tree, and an out-of-body journey inside the human body.