TATE MODIGLIANI VR
DATE: 2017
ORGANISATION Preloaded
ROLE: Designer
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The Tate Modern commissioned Preloaded to develop a VR experience to support their 2017 retrospective of the work of Amedeo Modigliani. The requirement was to provide an experience which could be integrated into the rest of the exhibition, rather than just a standalone experience elsewhere, and which would bring about an empathetic and emotive aspect to interpretation of his art. Such a high profile project in a prestigious cultural environment would be subject to a great deal of scrutiny, with the need to appeal to both traditional and new gallery visitors (as well as new and experienced users of VR) making for a potentially very tricky brief.
I was brought on as a game designer, and helped concept and prototype Preloaded’s response in collaboration with Tate’s digital and curatorial team. The solution wasn’t so much a game as an interpretation of Modigliani’s final studio in Paris, as it once might have been in the months leading up to his death in 1920. The user is teleported around the space to view it from different angles, and is able to hear details about surrounding objects, each of which was painstakingly researched and recreated by Preloaded and Tate curatorial, via contextual, gaze-activated prompts.
Overall this was a fascinating project to be a part of, involving close and extended collaboration with subject experts on a high-profile experience that it was important to get just right, and contributing to the early adoption of this type of technology in the cultural sector.
The response from visitors and the Tate was very positive, with some write ups below:
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The Preloaded Case Study on the project can be found here.
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