Last weekend we drove out to visit the terrific Mass MoCA in western Massachusetts. Like the Tate Modern, it’s a contemporary art gallery in a big old industrial complex and one of the best such places I’ve ever been too.
We’ve been several times before and our main reason for going this time was the two Laurie Anderson virtual reality experiences called Aloft and Chalk Room that are currently playing there. Space was very limited so the wife did the first one and I went to the latter.
In Chalk Room (shown in the above video) you put on a VR headset and, with two hand controllers, navigate through a labyrinth of dark rooms, corridors, and halls decorated with chalk graffiti and drawings. Along the way you can choose to draw on the walls, play sound sculptures, or dive into a massive tree of words. But the most exhilarating part of the experience is that you can “fly” through the space which makes you feel like Superman. It’s an immersive, mind-expanding trip and, when you take the headset off and come back to boring reality, the only reaction is “Wow” and you walk out of the room feeling happily discombobulated.
Another enjoyable thing about it is that you have Laurie Anderson talking softly in your ear. She has a warm, musical voice that is a pleasure to the ears and I could literally listen to her reciting the phone book – which she may well have done for a piece as far as I know. This is from her 1984 live album United States Live.
Download: Language is a Virus From Outer Space – Laurie Anderson (mp3)
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