VR Takes Over Surrealist Game in Montreal Exhibition

The Phi Centre in Montreal hosts 'Cadavre Exquis', an exhibition inspired by the Surrealist parlor game, running until January 19, 2020. Nine VR projects by artists including Marina Abramović, Olafur Eliasson, Antony Gormley, Paul McCarthy, and Laurie Anderson are on view, produced with support from London-based startup Acute Art under curatorial direction of Daniel Birnbaum. The show replaces paper with virtual reality, offering a kaleidoscope of environments, characters, and objects experienced through headsets and controllers. The original Surrealist concept of using art to explore dream and unconscious territories is transposed into new technologies, with VR's 'daydream' experiential model guiding viewers through imaginary scenarios. Highlight is the world premiere of Laurie Anderson's VR trilogy created with Taiwanese artist Hsin-Chien Huang: 'To the Moon', 'Chalkroom', and 'Aloft' are shown together for the first time, taking visitors from an aerial journey over New York to the lunar surface via a fantastical 'drawing room'. Paul McCarthy's contribution, 'C.S.S.C. Coach Stage Stage Coach VR experiment Mary and Eve', is restricted to viewers over 16 and produced by Copenhagen-based Khora Contemporary. It imagines a scenario where two characters plus the viewer are trapped in a vicious cycle exposing contradictions of dominant culture, exploring gender politics and global surveillance.