Mirrored Dwellers
An artistic exploration into embodying virtual identities and its impact on user experience  by Anneleen Swillen (contemporary jewellery), Guus Vandeweerd (graphic design, XR-design), Ine Vanoeveren (XR-performance), Senneke Van de Wygaert (contemporary jewellery), and Esther Verstreken (graphic design).
Mirrored Dwellers is a performative project that aims to explore virtual identity within the context of Extended Reality (XR). For this project, we experiment with digital adornment, embodiment, personification, user experience and intra-active (Barad) phygital impressions. A selection of Ornamutations has been translated by Guus Vandeweerd into different avatars and a virtual world. During the performance, Ine Vanoeveren embodies an avatars and plays the flute in VR, all the while looking at her own reflection in this virtual world. Through Ine's viewpoint, an experimental poem co-authored with ChatGPT, and scientific allusions, the audience engages. Their presence and diverse perspectives are pivotal in questioning virtual identity, as well as active 'vs' passive spectatorship in XR. Wearing the avatar(s), entails embracing notions of otherness, plurality, and interconnectedness, while touching upon intricate entanglements of more-than-human actors, technologies, practices and environments.
Mirrored Dwellers is an ongoing project since 2023. So far, it has been performed at RITCS, Brussels (23/03/2023) and De Singel, Antwerp (19/04/2023). We plan on further developing this project in 2024.
By Dr.Anneleen Swillen, Prof. Dr. Ine Vanoeveren, Senneke Van de Wygaert, Esther Verstreken and Guus vandeweerd
Fluid Narrative for the Avatar
This experiment facilitated a fluid narrative for the avatar, as it shifted with each new scene it encountered. For example, when placed in a dark forest, the avatar appeared animalistic, caught in the glare of an approaching car's headlights. Conversely, in front of a lake, the avatar's colors seamlessly blended with the stones and water, making it seem like an intrinsic part of the landscape. The accompanying sounds significantly influenced my perception of the avatar, even when they seemed incongruous with the visuals, as they added a layer of uncertainty and unpredictability to the experience.