Elisabetta Modena on Immersive Art and Narrative in VR and AR

Elisabetta Modena, an art historian and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Milan, discusses her book 'Nelle storie. Arte, cinema e media immersivi' (Carocci, 2022). The book examines immersive experiences across art, cinema, and digital media, focusing on narrative strategies. Modena is co-founder of MoRE, a digital museum for refused and unrealized art projects. Her research is part of the AN-ICON project funded by the European Research Council and coordinated by Andrea Pinotti. She explores the relationship between immersion and emergence, noting that VR creates sealed environments while AR overlays digital elements onto reality. She traces historical precedents like 19th-century panoramas and pop-up books. Modena highlights early VR artists such as Jenny Holzer, who created two VR works for the Guggenheim in 1993. Contemporary artists using VR include Jon Rafman, Jordan Wolfson, Laurie Anderson, Marina Abramović, Marzia Migliora, Sara Tirelli, Luca Pozzi, and Emilio Vavarella. She curated virtual residencies for Pozzi and Vavarella at Casa degli Artisti in Milan. Museums can use immersive narratives for education, but they should complement rather than replace real artifacts. Modena discusses environmental works by Jakob Kudsk Steensen and the concept of acclimatization to digital-analog habitats. The book's cover features Elmgreen & Dragset's 'This Is How We Play Together', alluding to anthropological shifts. The interview was conducted by Davide Dal Sasso.