Arts and Culture University of Exeter

VR Exploration Lab

Joumana Mourad is a dancer and choreographer. In her artist commission she will bring together technology, the arts and science, to unlock our bodies' potential. Body and movement will be put at the heart of the questions: 'What is the future of the human body? What is the future of mobility and our movements? Is the body being desensitised in our modern world? How can we make the human body future proof?'

Joumana says, "I believe in the inherent potential of combining movement, choreography, science and technology. Together they allow us to further understand the human body and to advance movement techniques, while offering more creativity and innovation on a multitude level.

There are very few commission opportunities that allow for artists to expose the technique of science and where science is combined with artist practice at a very deep level where both can intertwine, weave, to offer a kaleidoscope of science exploration and infinite creativity.

For this commission on the theme of Urgency, we will be working on creating a compact Virtual reality exploratory Lab, inviting participants to transform their perception of their body, aided through wearing a VR Set. 

I see this commission as an invitation to inspire audiences to play and create with us the next VR performance on the streets, where anyone is welcomed.  

By definition, the universe contains everything, so there is no "outside." Physicist Stephen Hawking has often said that the whole question makes no sense, because if the universe came from nothing and brought everything into existence, then asking what lies beyond the universe is like asking what is north of the North. The universe is so close to us,  it is now a domain that is legislated and claimed. Outer space is becoming a commercial, possibly a colonised space. In 2016 President Obama declared that the US government will protect US companies that will mine on the Moon, on asteroids, and in deep space.

Here we are looking at methods in which we can make the universe your universe to explore and claim your own space in it."

Find out more about Joumana Mourad at: http://ijaddancecompany.com/

Image: Bruce Mars