The scenographic potential of immersive technologies: virtual and augmented reality at the Prague Quadrennial 2019

Abstract

ABSTRACT A wide range of works made with virtual and augmented reality technologies was on display at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial. This article discusses these works in the context of a renewed wave of research interest in these technologies. I argue that virtual and augmented reality provides a new paradigm for scenographic practice that differs from other digital media. Furthermore, I contend that a scenographic perspective can provide insights into how immersive technologies might be utilised to create affective audience experiences. Through a description of my own experiences of the works at PQ, I consider the scenographic environments that immersive technologies make possible, the specific affordances that they offer scenographic practice, and the attendant materialities of virtual environments. Rather than focus on presence or immersion in virtual environments as primary goals of immersive technologies, I suggest that a scenographic approach might instead foreground the porous boundaries between different orders of reality or ‘worlds’, and between bodies and worlds.