Brecht into the Metaverse
The metaverse seems to be a place of community, love, care and sharing - beyond the analogue world of existential fears, the limits of self-optimization, exclusion and discrimination. A digital place where dreams come true. But how many of the promises of the brave new VR world are real? Who has access and how? Large tech companies are in the process of creating "the metaverse" to their own liking. For whom?
Performance and media artist Katharina Haverich is preoccupied with these questions. She has selected four protagonists for the pilot of a planned six-part mini-documentary series: Ahmet (73), a retired life artist, Sadie (43), an artist/sex worker, Levi, 10, a schoolboy and Lioba, an actress. They take it in turns to read "Senora Carrar's Rifles" by Bertolt Brecht, a play about war.
The play is about war and a mother who loses control. It is about the children's dream of saving the world and finding themselves in the process - with the help of the weapons hidden by their mother. In Brecht's play, it is the guns. In Katharina Haverich's project, it is the depths of VR technology.
The unlikely parallels between Brecht and VR allow for a curious and unbiased view: What does VR offer people with different conditions? Where are they excluded, where are they supported, when are they captured?
This experiment opens up new dimensions for viewers: are we like Brecht's children, following our "calling" with the support of big tech? Or are we at the mercy of our dreams as soon as we enter the stage as "users"?
The series is shot in Spain and Berlin - in VR and IRL - supplemented with interviews with experts and VR makers, tech companies and NGOs.
Performance and media artist Katharina Haverich is preoccupied with these questions. She has selected four protagonists for the pilot of a planned six-part mini-documentary series: Ahmet (73), a retired life artist, Sadie (43), an artist/sex worker, Levi, 10, a schoolboy and Lioba, an actress. They take it in turns to read "Senora Carrar's Rifles" by Bertolt Brecht, a play about war.
The play is about war and a mother who loses control. It is about the children's dream of saving the world and finding themselves in the process - with the help of the weapons hidden by their mother. In Brecht's play, it is the guns. In Katharina Haverich's project, it is the depths of VR technology.
The unlikely parallels between Brecht and VR allow for a curious and unbiased view: What does VR offer people with different conditions? Where are they excluded, where are they supported, when are they captured?
This experiment opens up new dimensions for viewers: are we like Brecht's children, following our "calling" with the support of big tech? Or are we at the mercy of our dreams as soon as we enter the stage as "users"?
The series is shot in Spain and Berlin - in VR and IRL - supplemented with interviews with experts and VR makers, tech companies and NGOs.