South African interdisciplinary artist Natalie Paneng’s biography describes her as “residing in Johannesburg and the cyber village called the internet.” The physical and digital are on an equal footing in Paneng’s utopian art, in which she uses various media to explore how our online personas relate to reality. In the virtual reality experience Natalie’s Trifecta, she welcomes us to both of these worlds, plus a third: that of her imagination.
From the “Homeworld” of the experience, you can pass through three gateways leading to three special worlds. The “Exhibition Space” is a digital gallery where Paneng’s works are displayed in ways that mirror how she installs work in physical gallery spaces. The “IRL World” (In Real Life) takes us into Paneng’s studio, where we see her at work, and where she answers questions about the VR experience itself—from “Who is Natalie?” to “Why are there all these Natalies in the work?”
And lastly, “Niceatopia,” the dreamworld that fuels Paneng’s work and where the visitor is invited to play in a digital utopia. Natalie’s Trifecta offers the user a journey through these three worlds to experience the different elements that make the artist whole.
One of the most original VR experiences in recent years and winner of the IDFA DocLab Special Jury Award for Creative Technology, this work was first presented at IDFA DocLab in 2023 and can now be experienced again as part of The Archive Arcade.
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