LFF Expanded, 26 Leake Street, London
October 6-17, 2021

As a part of London Film Festival, LFF Expanded shows a selection of immersive works ranging from digital art to augmented, mixed and virtual reality pieces.

Most remarkable is the installation of the mixed reality work “Eternal Return” by Swedish artist duo Lundahl Seitl (in collab with UK based ScanLAB Projects) where the viewer is immersed in a virtual world that alternates between a grid like environment, and a dusty, old piano workshop. The ghostly digiscape stretches out infinitely with objects scattered around the viewer like fragments of memory. The participating audience is led by a narrative voice in the headphones and the hand of a live performer guiding the way. The experience is multisensory as it activates both vision, sound, touch and smell creating an intense situation of heightened perception as you are blind to the physical world around you other than via the tactile senses of your body and unaware of where the story and the performer will lead you. The relief of a door, a cup complete with cold coffee and a lamp are some of the 3D printed objects in the exhibition space for the participant to interact with as the story evolves.

Giving up on trying to control the situation and trusting the invisible hand that suddenly turn up only to disappear again throughout the experience is part of the vulnerable sensation generated by the artwork. The multiplicity in time scales introduced in the artwork resonates with the concept of deep time that connects the short lifespan of humans to the vast scale of geological time. By introducing new layers of existence, Lundahl Seitl create a shift in perception of reality which opens up for questions about the life lived and possible futures ahead.

Other interesting immersive film and VR works in the festival include “Liminal Lands” by Jakob Kudsk Steensen and “Samsara” by Hsin-Chien Huang.