NOTHING TO SEE HERE by Celine Daemen, Photo: Roger Cremers, IDFA DocLab
At IDFA Doclab, you can be sure of two things: 1) the ever evolving and creative programming means you never can be sure what you will experience, and 2) whatever it is, you will be surrounded by thought-provoking work, people and conversations. DocLab is always a great way to close out the year – with a playful and hospitable spirit grounded in an investment in building the immersive ecosystem.
It’s not just the carefully curated (thanks to Caspar Sonnen and Nina van Doren) slate of interesting art works, which take many forms. Attendees here are along for the whole ride – from the exhibition to the R&D Summit, from the DocLab forum to the experimental playrooms. The team has built an event that feels like a gathering of community (one of smart, creative and open people).
This year’s theme was OF(F) the Internet, a reflection of where the industry has come from and a challenge to ground ourselves in the present and the collective experience. “The artists we showcase, their work couldn’t have existed without interactive media and technology,” notes Sonnen, Head of New Media. “So it’s very much a celebration of the most beautiful things that arise out of the internet and new technology. At the same time, it also invites us to reflect – what if we leave the internet sometimes, instead of being perpetually connected to it.” And what does it mean to be involved in an artistic field that often isolates us from the world around us? How can we bridge it with collective, and connective, experiences?
Despite being grounded in a documentary festival (IDFA), the boundary of what is perceived as non-fiction is very fluid here. But this is not out of place for two reasons – IDFA has long featured its Paradocs section of films which “push the limits of the documentary form”, and the long-debated question of “what is reality” in documentary is at the core of much immersive art. To an extent, all documentaries are a reflection of how what we see as truth is often mediated by our context and affected by what’s around us. As Sonnen says, “we have a soft spot for artists who are comfortable to not be obsessed with whether what they’re making is fiction or documentary, but who love to explore new types of technology to create a thing we like to call ‘perception art’: art that forces us to rethink and reflect what human perception is, what human behavior is.”
originally published on XR Must