
Shadowtime & Our Ark
Sister Sylvester & Deniz Tortum / NL, TR, US, 2023 / 45 min.
Dutch premiere of the VR experience Shadowtime and screening of the short film Our Ark. The VR allows us to inhabit two irreconcilable worlds at once, while the film describes how the physical world is disappearing just as the virtual world becomes ever more realistic. In partnership with IDFA DocLab.

The new VR experience Shadowtime causes us to think about the twilight zone we are currently inhabiting. ‘Shadow time’ expresses the sensation of living simultaneously in two irreconcilable times. Like: making breakfast for your child while you know that, during that child’s lifetime, many species of plants and animals will become extinct. Or: scrolling on your phone, then suddenly realising that the climate on earth is changing irrevocably.
'Shadowtime' portrays these incompatible worlds through virtual reality and simulation theory. In this virtual world, you possess two bodies, four hands and two hearts. Your body is in one world, while your heart resides in another. When putting on the VR glasses, you embark on a journey to the MIT laboratory in 1968, where the first virtual reality headset has just been designed. There you will meet Alma, your enigmatic guide in this dual reality, where AI-generated imagery unveils lost worlds. Profound questions emerge concerning the climate crisis, grief, incompatible realities and the virtual as a shelter.
Rainforests
The VR can be seen together with the short essay film Our Ark (2021, 12') by Sister Sylvester (the pseudonym of Kathryn Hamilton) and Deniz Tortum. It explores a virtual replica of our tangible world, a digital analogy of Noah's Ark. The directors archive our planet through 3D renditions of animals, rainforests, cities and people, as if ecological catastrophe remains preventable. But what happens to our perceptions of reality when we reduce them to mere ones and zeros?
Artist Talk
On 12 November at 20:30, Sister Sylvester and Deniz Tortum will be guests in Eye's Room at the Top. They will dive into the background of their work in words and images. Moderator is Eye's programmer Anna Abrahams.
Institute of Time
Based in Utrecht, Institute of Time is an interdisciplinary film and new media company specializing in documentary films and XR experiences. Focusing on creative projects around climate change, it aims to bring a different perspective to our current life and uncertain future with storytelling.
This performance has been cancelled.
VR can cause simulation sickness, which can make you feel dizzy or nauseated.
This is part of
Details
Director
Sister Sylvester & Deniz Tortum
Production year
2023
Country
NL, TR, US
Length
45 min.
Language
English
Part of
Virtual Reality in Eye
Virtual Reality productions are an increasingly important element of the contemporary film experience. Eye has created Virtual Reality in Eye, a programme that focuses on VR. You’re not confronted with the flat surface of a film screen. You move around virtually in 3D through a designed space that surrounds and immerses you on all sides.

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