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Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Future Play: Immersive Gallery

Future Play

Genre: Immersive

Venue: Assembly Rooms

Festival:


Low Down

For 25 minutes you lose yourself in the space which outside your head is a metal container but in your head thanks to the goggles is a 3D playground.

Review

Strictly speaking this may not qualify as a performance to watch as you are the person doing most of the work but it is the Fringe so I spent some time drawing and adding to the art work of others before going into a virtual gallery that was simple stunning.

You rock up and ask the guy what you have to do. He fixes you in to the goggles – word of warning, specs are not helpful. Taking you through the controls, if you are a gamer then you will have no problem whilst I don’t game so he was very patient with me!

The drawing part is fun. You, of course, become frustrated that your inner primary child is there for all to see thanks to your inability to draw anything worthwhile. You can print, save and leave a legacy but I went, I saw, I drew and went red over how much my primary 1 drawings must have looked then and NOW!

The real joy comes when you go into the gallery. In there the work of artists Mr Clandestine and Handiedan are simply fantastic. You can walk around and get a feel for what they have seen and used in this place and it takes your very breath away.

Whilst in I did overhear a confession that the art work can be made outside and imported in but no matter, things dazzled and thrummed whilst I could pick some of it up and take a closer look, wander round the gallery doing no more than turning after teleporting.

The only niggle I felt was that as a reviewer I am very fortunate; I got to see all this for free. The price is a little steep for the less fortunate for what is essentially 25 minutes of distraction, great distraction though it might be. The plus was an experience that I have never had before and would love the chance to repeat.

Published