David Van Eyssen
"I wanted to make a piece that would defy gravity, and have both mass and weightlessness. Real and imagined at the same time.”
Encounter is a life-scale virtual sculpture of the instant two cars collide, as their drivers are hurled from their seats, and become entangled mid-air. Surrounding these floating figures are shards of spinning glass, and a swarm of mirrored spheres that reflect the immediate environment.
From one angle, the female figure appears to be locked in an embrace with the male figure. Seen at another angle, the man seems to be embracing himself. The faces are serene, with eyes closed — dreaming, or in a state of rapture.
Using mobile devices, visitors will discover this 8.75m x 2.65m x 3.38m piece, designed to fit exactly within a gallery space, hovering above the ground. Outside, using the same devices, the rear section of one car can be seen protruding through the gallery window. \
"I don’t consider it a violent image, but an expression of the moment of emotional encounter, or loss.”
David Van Eyssen is a British painter and installation artist who moved to LA where he became a writer, director, and producer of interactive advertising and streaming entertainment, which he is widely recognized for helping to pioneer. Recovering from several years of life-threatening illness in 2018, he turned to technology to explore time, memory, and impermanence in video and virtual works, and has been exhibiting in the US and UK, with the support of collectors and corporate sponsors including LG, Panasonic, Getty Images and Varjo. His recent VR piece, The Private Life of Public Transport, was also sponsored by the Royal National Institute For Blind People. His work appears in the forthcoming book on artists working with reflections, Mirror: Mirror, published by Thames and Hudson.
Featured Artworks for Sale
Figures in Flight (and Falling) I 60 x 80" (paper)
Figures in Flight (and Falling) I 52.5 x 70" (paper)
Encounter AR Work Limited Edition (license for personal use)
Encounter AR Work Institutional Use