It’s Reality, But Not As We Know It
HELEN MURPHY AND NICK PELLING go beyond mere reality.
At first glance, you wouldn’t guess that the old Observer building, besieged as it is by rusty scaffolding, is home to an exciting almost futuristic space. But appearances are deceptive: the mezzanine floor in the building is now the ‘Creative Tech-Hub’ for Hastings Commons. We were drawn there on a cold Thursday night by a promise from the dynamic Irish artist, Ornagh, that she would explain to us old duffers how Extended Reality might be a way to make exciting and meaningful art.
JUST THE BEGINNING
ER, she clarified, is just the umbrella term for a whole range of image making and perceiving, via digital technology. So far, its uses have been dominated by the gaming world, but that is changing. Ornagh has thrown herself into exploring how the new technology can give artists new ways of seeing and understanding.
On this particular night, she was sharing some of her enthusiasm with an audience of creatives and inquisitive types from the Hastings artsy community. Although she has been engaging with the new modes for some time, she is also something of an evangelist, prophesying greater things to come. As she said slowly but clearly at the end of the evening, “We are only at the beginning.”
But, what are the attractions of dumping pencils and paint in favour of headsets and screens? Ornagh argued that first and foremost is the freedom to make imagery – moving or static – incredibly quickly. You are free of the humdrum constraints of the dreary, solid world. As she said, “If I want a line of dancers gyrating behind me, I can have it in quick time.” (She also admitted, it’s a great excuse to wear the special digi-dancing suit for the camera.) Fundamentally, new tech speeds up the time taken to realise an idea. And modification and re-thinking is also swift. And, on top of that, artworks are easily stored and re-shown over and over. And, possibly, even monetised repeatedly.
INTOXICATING POSSIBILITIES
However, although it is very easy to see that all these evolving electro realities – virtual, augmented, mixed and, of course, AI – might well be endlessly intoxicating, Ornagh remains first and foremost an artist with something to say. She is concerned with certain enduring things, such as the politics around the female body-image, consumerism, mental health and all the distortions and demands imposed on younger people in today’s society. In that sense, her raw material is embedded within what I suppose we should call, real-reality. However clever is the medium, she still feels that art must aspire to generate questions that might prompt positive change.
The joy of digital technology, however, is that it escapes the familiar and brings surprises to the eye and mind. The oddness of the visual creations is taking us towards a new immersive surrealism. And yet it was also interesting to note that Ornagh still uses an actual scrapbook for a visual diary as a means of collecting and recording fleeting notions that might later be inspirations for work. Ornagh is, somehow, both traditional and at odds with tradition, simultaneously.
LET’S GET DIGITAL
She has, for example, produced a body of work that she calls Ode to Him, in which she looks for new visual ways to explore that most ancient of agonies: the broken heart. The corresponding Ode to Her, has brought her face to face with her existentially shifting self. Although this sort of work can induce body paranoia, she believes her work is ultimately about the “empowerment of women”.
Whatever one’s view on new-tech, Ornagh’s work is undoubtedly intriguing and likely to become more so as it evolves. But she is also keen to encourage others to try new technology as a means of creating different art. She points out that there are several ER/worldbuilding software packages that can be downloaded for free, such as ‘Unreal Engine’. The possibilities are seemingly endless. So much so that even us old duffers were excited.
For more information go to ornagh.com
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