- Linda Hollier
Updated: Mar 26, 2024
Maro Dori Sky Palace is one of the architectural wonders of the Spatial Metaverse. This celestial gallery showcases the imaginary, noble bird Maro Dori, a creation of a special, young Japanese artist Michiko, paired with the captivating, seasonal Kyoto photos of Fumio Kojima. The result is a blend of tradition and modernity.
This beautiful, virtual environment features floating bridges that allow users to walk through a sequence of gallery spaces and connect with others along the way.
Imagine my excitement when I was invited to have a solo exhibition in one of the galleries.
Many of you know that I love architecture and spent many years photographing the architecture of Dubai, so to be invited to exhibit in this architecturally unique Japanese virtual space was very special.
Because of the many floating bridges in the space and because I believe that architecture is in itself a bridge, as it has the ability to move people emotionally, I was inspired to call this exhibition, “Bridging Worlds”.
My artworks in this exhibition feature people from various parts of the world, and invite us to walk in the shoes of those who have worldviews different to our own. We are invited to bridge our differences and instead realize our similarities and our interconnectedness..
The figures in the artworks invite us to follow them and move along a bridge from the outer world to the inner world of contemplation. As much as there is a sense of stillness in movement in the artworks, there is also a sense of movement into stillness.
The exhibition is also a celebration of the many bridges that I have already crossed on my explorations in the metaverse.
My collaboration with the Japanese community in Spatial has enabled us to bridge language barriers by researching and discovering modern speech to text technology.
As a result of implementing this technology which facilitates communication, people who are hard of hearing are now able to feel fully included in the metaverse. Different speaking communities in the metaverse are also communicating more easily with each other, uniting us all.
Time zones are no longer a barrier as the metaverse has encouraged us to bridge this challenge.
Many of our artworks are both physical and digital, the metaverse being the bridge to the phygital.
Someone expressed to me recently that the metaverse is a bridge which enables them to be both social in the virtual realm and yet solitary in the physical realm at the same time.
As we continue to connect in the metaverse we are building bridges. Dr Judi Harris put it so beautifully:
“When I see cyberspace, I see bridges. Perhaps I should say I see people, building bridges in cyberspace. Not bridges of steel, not even electronic bridges, but bridges of ideas that span the miles of physical space, cross the generations and connect people who would otherwise be unlikely ever to meet.”
You, dear reader, are invited to join me in the Maro Dori Sky Palace and to cross bridges you had not before thought were possible.
Bridging Worlds: 1 April 2024 - 31 May 2024
A Japanese version of this blog post has been published here.
There will be a cherry blossom viewing and exhibition celebration on 1 April 2024 at 10PM JST/9AM EST/3PM CET in Ambient Canvas. Experience a Japanese style hangout with Koto music, before joining me on a journey to "Bridging Worlds".
- Linda Hollier
Dinamica Art Expo, an engaging international collective virtual exhibition that is part of the rich panorama of the Virtual Art Week 2024, is online from 26 February and is accessible from PCs, smartphones and tablets.
“This exhibition is configured as a fascinating mix of visual experiences, where the theme of dynamism in contemporary art is expressed in a variety of forms and expressive languages.”
As I explore the concepts of stillness in movement, rootedness and movement occurring simultaneously, and the intertwining of the ordinary and the sacred, the theme for Dinamica Art Expo immediately caught my attention.
I was delighted when two of my works were selected.
“The works on display embody a harmonious fusion of sign, gesture, matter and a visual narrative emerges that captures the viewer's attention, transporting him on an emotional journey through the multiple dimensions of contemporary art.”
“Dinamica Art Expo explores the different nuances of dynamism, revealing its presence even in apparently static works. A single sign, hidden between one or more subjects, a flash of colour, a vigorous brushstroke, these are the elements that can give the work a disruptive emotional charge, making it dynamic and vibrant.”
“It is not just a virtual exhibition, but a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in a new continually evolving creative universe, where artistic research is confronted with the challenges and contradictions of our time, between new and well-known styles.”
The virtual exhibition can be viewed for one week starting 26 February 2024 on the Virtual Art Week website, and until 17 March 2024 on the Make Art Gallery online website. My works can be found in Gallery 4.
I am also delighted that my metaverse gallery “Linda’s Stillness in Movement Gallery” is one of only two Spatial metaverse art galleries to be featured in Virtual Art Week.
- Linda Hollier
Augmented reality is an interactive experience that enhances the real world with computer-generated perceptual information.
Augmented reality technology now makes it possible to integrate art into the physical world in a new and exciting way.
I am happy to have discovered the Digital Bohemians Club who are doing amazing work in this field. Vanessa and Maks are showcasing artists from all over the world in an innovative way.
In their words:
“Immerse yourself in a world where art is not only observed but also experienced. Our events offer pedestrians, tourists, and art enthusiasts the unique opportunity to discover artworks from around the world on a specific theme. Through Augmented Reality, you can not only admire the art but also link and publicly share it with others, fostering a vibrant community that experiences art in ways that go beyond traditional boundaries.”
My friends in Munich, Germany, were kind enough to visit the latest AR exhibition and send me so many photos of my artworks “Color Healing” and “Heightened Awareness” in front of the Opera House on Gärtnerplatz.
I have already participated in two of the Digital Bohemians Club exhibitions in Germany and look forward to further collaborations in Greece and Japan.