It is fitting to start Digital Correspondent, Fence Digital’s new column that unearths internet esoterica wherever it might be buried, with a quick look at a Virtual Reality (VR) project that digitizes dust. Though the live tour is over, the prize winning interactive VR environment DUST can still be viewed online. And you definitely want to watch in full screen. Drawing on motifs from Eugene Thacker’s In the Dust Of This Planet, DUST positions the observer in the perspective of particles clinging to a dancing figure. As your eyes rove over the wire framed environment you can move the cursor to slowly adjust your vantage point. But the motion is lazy, and in a sense, your eyes float like a dust mote through this highly tactile environment.

The promotional videos below are a great introduction. After you view them, grab your favorite VR goggles and go get dusty.

The artists behind dust explain that, “Our interest is rooted in exploring what performance art and virtual reality can offer to each other…

…In DUST, the audience uses a Virtual Reality (VR) headset to place themselves in the immediate presence of the dancer and within a unique visual and aural scenario created by capturing volumetric recordings of dancers and photogrammetric imagery of Rambert’s building. The resulting effect is exhilarating, allowing the audience to experience the work from different perspectives and within the space where the dance is happening. DUST creates an emotional connection between the audience and the dancers, and between the audience and the digitally reconstructed architecture. It is a demonstration of what dance, performance, film and sound could become in the future of VR…

…The piece is inspired by how almost every element on Earth was formed at the heart of stardust, including our bodies. Drawing inspiration from these eternal particles, as well as the motif of the unthinkable world expressed by the philosophy book In the Dust Of This Planet by Eugene Thacker, DUST seeks to reimagine our perception of body, space and time with the use of digital technologies. DUST seeks to explore innovative forms of engaging the audience and ways of building new narratives through the creative partnership of performing arts and new media.”