Timeframe: October 2022 – May 2023

In its second run, the project VRinMotion aims to extend the developed concepts of stop motion animation for VR by using experimental puppeteering. For example, Arduino circuits are built to continuously stimulate inorganic matter, like using sand and vibration motors or colored fluids and micro fog machines in saltwater to create generative puppeteered stop motion sequences that betray their actual scale. This forms the basis for an abstract VR environment of an underground facility. A worker tells the viewers about their day-to-day activity on the edge of two tectonic plates. Methods to create segmented phonetics of movements are developed for the flexible animation of this person. Integrating Kinect depth image technology allows the mapping of pixilated human motion onto a virtual character. 

ExperiMotion 2 questions and extends definitions of traditional puppeteering and stop-motion animation. From an artistic point of view, the interactive aspect between the real and virtual worlds massively increases the range of immediate expressivity. The performative situation resembles an immersive theatre in which ad-hoc reactions between the content creators and VR users are possible and must accommodate the storytelling. 

Invited artist Friedrich Kirschner is a theater director, visual artist, and software developer who uses game structures and technology for participatory performances and interactive installations. Fellow invited artist Leoni Voegelin works at the interface of theatre, fine arts, and digitality. Within ExperiMotion 2, they will develop immersive VR concepts together with the VRinMotion team and create experimental artistic stop-motion puppeteering situations.

Talk by Friedrich Kirschner, Julian Salhofer and Leoni Vögelin: Animating a Concept: employing stop-motion and puppetry lenses for more-than-human experiences at Expanded Animation. The Art of Performance, Ars Electronica Center, Linz. (2023, September 10)