Greatest alchemists and VR artists share seemingly impossible goals. The former try to turn common metals into gold, the latter hone their craft to transfom the “virtual” into “real”. To dare to turn pixels into tangible matter one needs to harness the powers of science and technology but also imagination and craft.  

We propose to look at VR as a medium for creating new images and sensations that inspire new ways of being in the world. Seeing the act of conjuring virtual realities as the alchemical work, we highlight the supposedly paradoxical marriage of reality-defying ideas, and relentless experimental search for the material results, which lie at the core of both trades.  

When alchemists subject matter to the processes of Nigredo (decomposition), Albedo (purification), Citrinitas (colouring), and Rubedo (integration), VR makers transform their audiences through the Onboarding, Embodiment, Interaction, and Immersion. 

We wish to showcase the most inspiring combinations of those elements in our exhibition, create spaces for playful experimentation but also reflect on the very substance of the virtual reality that might be created in the process. Together, we want to look for a philosopher’s stone which will turn virtualities into realities in front of our very own eyes. 

• Brainstorm
• The Lawnmower Man
• Strange Days
• Nirvana

+ a extensive VR programma in Galerie Beeldend Gesproken as well as the Cinematic Visions event.