Duchampiana

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Duchampiana is an artistic VR installation focused on the theme of body politics. Departing from one of art history’s most notorious paintings - Duchamp’s “Nude Descending A Staircase No 2” - this immersive installation invites its audience to engage in a physical transgression of social constructs.

Movement is the core driver of this experience, both conceptually and literally. A stair climber facilitates the key interaction: the climb. An essential motion to drive the narrative forward. The experience of moving one's body in a steady pace for the duration of the piece, in conjunction with an empowering narrative, ideally leaves viewers with a surplus of endorphins - a corporeal memento, allowing each individual to return into their daily life with a new outlook. Options beyond the stair climber are an interactive version featuring a small scale stepper, and a seated linear version.

“Descending and ascending are poetically charged motions. While the descent bears the symbolism of retreat, a journey into the unconscious, or to hell, the ascent is associated with awakening, rebirth, a journey towards light, and freedom. I am fascinated with the politics of space, and how those inevitably impact the way we move through and hold ourselves within our surroundings. It’s a dynamic which is being revisited repeatedly in feminist discourse, for Woman’s place is not a given, but requires to be laboriously claimed ever anew. While reversing Duchampiana’s journey down the infinite staircase is my commentary on Woman reclaiming her body, it is in the realm of poetics that I hope the audience experiences this story.”

The installation design is kept intentionally raw in its aesthetic, featuring exposed technology and industrial furniture on wheels. 

The stair climber is elevated from a piece of gym equipment to a sculptural piece of art by placing it on a platform. Key components include: a custom climber, a custom platform, a spotlight, camera, PC, desk and a heads