Normal Day
VR-Documentary (USA, 2017)
An interactive virtual reality installation in which actress Tatyana Kot reflects on her experiences with breast cancer through dance, poetry, and performance art. The work, presented on Oculus Rift, follows both Tatyana’s daily routine as she deals with her diagnosis, and her inner emotional world as she strives to maintain a sense of normalcy. Towards the end of the experience, after the viewer has been immersed in the intimate world of Tatyana’s story, Tatyana asks the viewer to hold her hand so they can follow her further. If they reach out, the viewer makes physical contact with the Moderator’s hand as a proxy. This intimate physical contact triggers a continuation of Tatyana’s journey on the headset.
“Our artistic endeavour was to explore how the physical traumas of sickness and violence damage the mind through the body, and how touching cares for the mind despite its inability to explicitly heal the body. Our shared fascination with the technology and its abilities led us to the conception of this interactive VR journey: one where no progress is possible unless the viewer chooses to make a physical connection with another human being accompanying them in this experience.”
Directed by Natasha Babenko, Alexia Kyriakopoulos and Ayushman Pandey
