Virtual reality art exhibits have been popping up around the world for awhile now. But one Chicago-based arts collective has something a little different in mind for theirs.
Sub Chroma Chicago is an annual event from Canvas art collective that blends art and technology, hosting collaborations between musicians, digital artists, non-digital artists, and whoever else. Sub Chroma Chicago features virtual reality, but not in the typical ways you might expect.
At this year’s Sub Chroma Chicago, there’s a room dedicated to Tilt Brush painting galore. But the exhibit itself lies beyond that: in its projection mapping. Event goers are encouraged to wear all white, so that they might become part of the exhibit overall, another surface for digital art to project onto. As the paintings are displayed on the walls and everything around them and people digitally paint live, it creates an augmented experience—the art is digital, and you’re the canvas.
The whole event is divided into three particular rooms: a more-typical gallery with sculptures and more; live paintings with those augmented inclinations; and an interactive virtual reality exhibit where you yourself can hop in to create something. To soundtrack it all, there’s a stage in the main area with live musicians.
There will be 75 creatives in attendance, including Lefty Out There, Sam Rolfes, Hanksy, Maurice Hampton, the Cybertwee Collective, among others. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Canvas co-founder Preston Jones described this year’s event’s primary goal: to combat new media art expectations. “It’s meant to challenge what a gallery experience is and push the envelope of what a gallery experience is, and to challenge what live performance is,” Jones said. “You can go see a visual artist, a painter, a musician all happening on the same bill, and challenge what is progressive art.”
If you’re in Chicago, you can visit Sub Chroma Chicago on November 19th. Tickets are available here.
