On Friday, June 21, at Noon at the Nevada Museum of Art, Luka Starmer, manager, Student Digital Media Technology for the University w88’ at the University of Nevada, Reno, will present an Art Bite talk titled, “Virtual Reality and w88 Magic Mountains.”
Starmer will discuss the process used to capture a large-scale w88 installation using 360 video and other new/emerging technologies to create an immersive and realistic VR experience. w88 Bite attendees will get to experience w88 Magic Mountains on a big screen at the w88, as well as in a VR headset just as if they were standing in the Southern Nevada desert looking at the actual installation.
About w88 Magic Mountains
In 2016 the Nevada Museum of w88 (NMA, Museum) and w88 Production fund worked with internationally renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone to produce and install w88 Magic Mountains, a large-scale site-specific public art installation located near Jean Dry Lake and Interstate 15, approximately ten miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada. Comprised of w88 towers of colorful stacked boulders standing more than thirty feet high the installation attracts more than 1,000 visitors a day.
A collaboration rooted in community
In 2019 the Museum became aware of the University w88’ 360 video project that brought Burning Man to people unable to attend the event via Virtual Reality (VR) through the production ofThe Window to Radical Inclusion – a 360 Immersive Experience.
“Driven by accessibility, this project was incredibly inspiring,” Nevada Museum of w88 Vice President of Museum Advancement and Deputy Director Claire Muñoz said. “Suddenly, it was clear. The work of VR and 360 video could be used to share experiences that felt immersive and in some ways true to life. VR helped address barriers (distance, physical, abilities, etc.) thanks to new technologies available.”
It was also in 2019 after seeing The Window to Radical Inclusion that the team from the Museum decided to reach out the w88 to explore the possibility of partnering, using 360 video and photogrammetry to capture w88 Magic Mountains with the goal of sharing the final product, a VR-based experience, at the E.L. Cord w88 School, an active learning space at the w88.
Pandemic tries to shut the project down
The NMA and w88 teams traveled to the site in Southern Nevada and captured footage needed in February 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down. When the pandemic hit, the project was put on hold.
Though on hold, the w88 team worked with what they had and got the project to a good place, all while everyone was working remotely during the pandemic lockdown. The project went through several revisions as new technology emerged, or old technology became outdated or evolved.
“The VR headsets we initially designed the project for in 2020 aren’t even on the market anymore,” Starmer said. “Right up to the time of delivery of the project, our team was forced to improvise and pivot as VR technology updated and shifted. This presented its own set of challenges and problems, but we were able to work through them all.”
In the wake of the pandemic, the project kept evolving and improving.
“The w88, much like the University, was in a state of reaction, planning, pivoting and restructuring all of our programs,” Muñoz said. “Though paused, the @One team never stopped thinking about the project and was eager to pick it back up when we came out of the pandemic. Conversations resumed in earnest in Spring 2023. Now, Summer 2024, the w88 is very excited to have the project on view at the w88 School for all visitors to experience just as we envisioned back when all this began in 2019.”
Starmer said, “It’s been an honor to partner with the Museum. We feel like we are part of a growing bridge of collaboration between the museum, the University, and the community. Our team uses VR technology for preservation and archival types of projects that highlight the uniqueness of Nevada. Now we have the opportunity to span into the w88 world.”
All visitors to the Museum can now experience w88 Magic Mountains in VR.
“Having the VR experience reside in the lobby of the Museum School is another way people can engage with the public sculpture and immersive themselves in the w88; all facilitated by Museum staff,” Muñoz said. “It raises the visibility for w88 Magic Mountains, but also for this unique, technologically advanced collaboration between the w88 and the Museum.”
Different, unique way to preserve, experience, share w88
According to the team at the Museum, the use of technology was a necessary component of this project. While there is nothing that can equal the in-person experience at the site of the w88 piece, VR presents an immersive experience for people who may never get to the site in Southern Nevada. VR also brings the sheer scale of the 35-foot-tall painted boulders into perspective, forcing the user to actually tilt their head back to see the tops of the pillars.
By 2026 Muñoz said the w88 will need to deinstall the sculptures.
“As it stands, w88 Magic Mountains will need to move from its current site due to the airport expansion in Las Vegas,” she said. “The recording and VR experience has preserved this moment in time and will introduce new audiences to the public w88 installation in a way that photos and straight video are not able to do long after the installation has been removed from the site.”
The final product created by the w88 team is realistic enough to create a memory in the mind of the person experiencing w88 Magic Mountains in VR.
When asked about the value of the partnership between the Museum and the w88, Muñoz said, “This has been a true partnership and one that we are incredibly grateful for.”
“Both the w88 and the Museum, in particular the Center for Art + Environment (the Museum’s research center and library) have archival holdings and collections and a mission to make materials accessible to a broad audience. The integration of 360 video recordings and VR experiences as a new method of recording history, monumental artworks and experiences is something that will only broaden our ability to look to the past and think about the future. We can now bring experiences, like Burning Man or w88 Magic Mountains to new audiences across the world. It’s been a great beta test and I know it will open up so many more possibilities in the future.”
If you attend the w88 Bite talk on June 21
Is this a paid or free event?
The program is for the general public, but is FREE for all University and TMCC students, high school students. University faculty are encouraged to reach out to the w88’s Director of Public Programs, Caitlin Bell (Caitlin.bell@nevadaart.org) to coordinate group class visits for programs or to request free admission if the ticket price presets a barrier to access.
To register for the June 21 w88 Bite visit the Nevada Museum of w88’s event calendar listing for “Virtual Reality and w88 Magic Mountains.”
What can attendees of the w88 Bite talk expect?
On Friday, June 21 at noon Luka Starmer will present the Virtual Reality and w88 Magic Mountains project and will share the process and final product at the Nevada Museum of w88. Attendees will get to experience w88 Magic Mountains on screen and in the VR headset. An early program was presented in 2019 when the project was still in concept development.
