Reynier Leyna Novo's Methuselah offers a unique opportunity to observe a single monarch butterfly on its journey migrating from Canada to Mexico. Methuselah is located in an expansive gallery space, with white, empty walls and a lofty ceiling. Viewers are invited to put on VR headsets to see and follow the virtual butterfly on its migration path throughout this space. The exhibit is supplemented with a website that follows the journey of this avatar in real time as well. Methuselah raises questions about the security of borders, and relates to issues such as migration, climate change, and the importance of transnational cooperation.
Novo, a cuban artist based in Houston, Texas, creates work that challenges symbols of power and ideology, as well as the ability of the individual to create change in our society. His practice focuses on mining historical data and official documents that he transforms into conceptual and minimalist sculptures and multimedia installations. When creating Methuselah, Novo worked with team of butterfly experts, taxidermists, animators, computer modelers, and software designers in order to create a program that accurately replicates the the butterfly movements on its migration.
The concept of Methuselah is compelling; the monarch butterfly is an intriguing metaphor for migration and cooperation. Additionally, the software and VR experience designed for this exhibit offers an unprecedented look into the life of the butterfly. On my visit, the butterfly was resting, hanging onto an invisible branch or plant as I circled around it to view it from all angles. It felt less like a minimalist symbol for all of these important issues and more accidental, like the avatar of the butterfly had glitched. It was underwhelming when the grandness of the gallery space seem to promise so much more.
-Brittney Fang
I am sorry to hear your experience of the exhibit was underwhelming, especially since the concept of the piece seems really exciting and intriguing. Do you think there is a way this exhibit could be recreated without having to depend on such temperamental technology? Virtual reality is a really unique experience, but it is also a medium with functionality and accessibility issues. I wonder if the same experience could be achieved in a less tech-dependent way.
ReplyDeleteI remember discussing this with you after viewing it. I also struggled with the way the VR came into actuality, and felt underwhelmed by it. I think we all went into the exhibit expecting to be able to follow the butterfly around and really see it move, but instead we were stuck straining our necks to watch it stand still. The show would've benefited from either more physical representation of the butterfly migration through graphs or visuals, or through a more interactive VR experience. If I had not been given the short description from the VR handler, I would've been completely lost in this exhibit.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with others, I felt this was quite underwhelming. I believe the concept and the use of AR to be exceedingly interesting however the reality was much more disappointing. I remember putting on the AR headset and immediately regretting waiting as long as we did to view the show. There really was not much to see and to be fair the exhibit may have been more interesting at a different part of the monarchs migration however I believe the show should be at least somewhat interesting throughout its whole viewing period. I think your review does a great job of illustrating how many of us were feeling when viewing the exhibit.
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