VR in ACMI's Screen Worlds exhibit.
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), together with arts philanthropists Catriona and Simon Mordant and the City of Melbourne, has launched an annual virtual reality commission worth $80,000.
The Mordant Family VR Commission invites artists to produce “bold new and ambitious works” using virtual reality (VR) and associated technology. It is open to mid-career and established visual artists and is meant to support gallery-based practitioners in moving into VR.
The recipient of the commission will be awarded $80,000 for the creation of a new work.
The commission will be selected by a panel including Rebecca Coates, director of the Shepparton Art Museum; futurist and entrepreneur, Mark Pesce; ACMI chief experience officer Seb Chan and ACMI senior curator Sarah Tutton. The panel will be co-chaired by Simon Mordant and ACMI CEO Katrina Sedgwick.
The recipient of each commission will also receive advice and support from ACMI in the development phase, and a work space in ACMI X. Each work will be presented to the public at ACMI and enter into its collection.
“The Mordant Family VR Commission is a rare opportunity for visual artists to be supported to develop new work in this increasingly important and accessible new platform,” said Sedgwick. “Virtual reality enables artists to extend their practice, to express their ideas and engage with audiences in entirely new ways."
Applications for the Mordant Family VR Commission are open now and will close Thursday April 13. Apply here.