VR HACKATHON – STORIES FROM THE BATHHOUSE

Wiesbaden is a city with a long spa tradition. In 2022, goEast launched a “bathhouse” themed programme, inviting artists to create a totally new world devoted to this topic within the VRChat platform. Three projects were completed in less than two months: “Bloodbath” (Ukraine), which was honoured by Raindance Festival; “Hammam” (Turkey, USA); and “Exotic with a Happy Ending” (Germany, Uzbekistan). Each project was presented in a physical exhibition during the festival as well as online in goEast’s VRChat world, conceived as a reconstruction of Wiesbaden’s famous Kaiser Friedrich Spa.

Our virtual bathhouse is a gateway to diverse stories which were once created by authors for a limited audience, but are now being made accessible for many more people in a public context. This year, goEast has selected three further projects and asked the authors to present their stories and worlds to our growing VRChat community.

All three works originally existed as independent offline experiences, which, now combined, represent a real-time experiment in which the authors lead visitors through their virtual world in a multiplayer experience, by shifting narratives and perspectives and enabling visitors to become co-authors of the story.

 

Curation Georgy Molodtsov
VR Mentor and Worldbuilding Producer Dale Deacon
VR Community Manager Selen Lun
Physical Exhibition Naz Akgul

TRAIL OF ANGELS / ANGELŲ TAKAIS
LTU, BLR 2018 / 30 min

An interactive VR project that received a Special Mention from the goEast jury in 2019 and is now being made available in VRChat. The virtual world invites visitors to get to know well- and lesser-known paintings by Lithuanian artist M. K. Čiurlionis in VR space – accompanied by musical pieces from composer Mindaugas Urbaitis and Čiurlionis himself. This virtual world presents the first scene of the project and provides a preview of what the audience will be able to experience in the full 30-minute film.

Director Kristina Buozyte
Production Okta (Vitalijus Zukas), Natrix natrix (Kristina Buozyte), Asterman (Aleksander Podgorny)
Art Leader/Developer Alexey Grishenko
Project Manager Karina Borucha

THE CITY WAS ASLEEP AND IT HAD A DREAM / EDZINA KALAKS DA KHEDAVDA SIZMARS
GEO 2021 / 20 min

THE CITY WAS ASLEEP AND IT HAD A DREAM offers a tour through the crumbling remains of the Soviet era, present in the city architecture of Tbilisi. The way the buildings are architectonically embedded here mirrors the collision, overlapping and occasional merging of two ideological systems, from which a new city emerges, which audiences can experience in 3d.

Project Creators Mariam Natroshvili and Detu Jintcharadze
VR Programme Alexandre Lashkhi
Sound Design Anano Sikharulidze

TEMPORAL WORLD: A HAPTISONIC VIRTUAL REALITY MEMORY
DEU 2023 / 20 min

This depiction of a virtual world inspires us to slow down, while we explore Berlin and other locations in our increasingly accelerated times. Artist Chloé Lee reflects on making meaning in places with varying levels of connection to herself – from the personal to the familial to the alien. TEMPORAL WORLD: A HAPTISONIC VIRTUAL REALITY MEMORY WORLD celebrated its world premiere as a stand-alone exhibition at SXSW in Texas in March 2023, now it’s available for VRChat.

Director/Producer Chloé Lee
VR Experience Developer Lucas Martinic
Advisor, VR Sound Engineering Isaac Munoz

HOW CAN I VISIT THE VRHACKATHON ONLINE?

1.) Install Steam
2.) Install VRCHAT on Steam
3.) Log In VRCHAT and create an account for VRCHAT with your data from your Steam accound or a totally new account
4.1) Go through tutorial and search for  “goEast 2023” in the World menu OR
4.2) Open the link in your browser, log in with your account data and press “Invite youself” – you will find an invitation in the VRChat menu

On Quest / Quest 2:

1.) Install VRCHAT from Meta Store
2.) Create an account with your meta account or a new account
3.)  Log in and search for “goEast 2023” world in the World search menu