‘We Live In An Ocean Of Air’ is an immersive virtual reality experience designed by the London based, gloriously named Marshmallow Laser Feast collective, in collaboration with Natan Sinigaglia and Mileage I’Anson.
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On arrival at the show, you congregate in front of the installation where the previous group of participants are exploring the VR world through headsets. These visitors bring to mind scuba divers as they interact with the environment that only they can see, their headsets and computer packs resembling masks and oxygen tanks. Furthermore, oblivious to anything outside of the strange new world they inhabit, they appear to swim through the air, arms outstretched in front of them, moving slowly and fluidly. On a giant screen behind them is a glimpse of the kind of swirling, trippy imagery that awaits you. It’s an enticing and mysterious scene, as much a part of the exhibition as the VR experience itself. When it’s your turn, you are furnished with a headset and computer backpack and instructed to take a deep breath to activate the technology. Your breath and the breath of your fellow passengers is visible as hundreds of beautiful glowing red and pink dots that dissipate into the air in front of you. Look down and the blood vessels in your hands and arms glow red as you move your limbs. The lush scents of alpine wood and grass are pumped through the environment as you are transported to an ancient, verdant wonderland. A peaceful landscape of woodland and distant meadows surrounds you and a giant
sequoia tree looms majestically in its centre. Photosynthesis is at work as the tree turns your red particles of carbon dioxide to blue and purple dots of oxygen. It is too tempting not to attempt to enter the massive sequoia by simply stepping through its wall of bark. Inside you become entwined within its abstract, coiling network of glowing, coloured roots as you rise upwards through its trunk. As you twist through its magnificent swirling core, the temperature rises and the scent of wood intensifies. The experience is an awe-inspiring blaze of colour and an absolute delight. Through the visual manifestation of breathing, the installation reminds us of our profound connection to plants, trees and our natural environment at large. It asks us to consider our relationship with the natural world and our place within it. The installation is a moving and delightful encounter with a living, breathing woodland, and a deeply peaceful experience. Rona Smith is an artist based in Crystal Palace working in sculpture and public art. She has three permanent public works in London in New Burlington Mews, Regent Street, Lumen United Reformed Church, Bloomsbury and Z Hotels, Soho.
Her work is online at www.ronasmith.co.uk and her sketches and models on Instagram @ ronasmithartist .