For its fourth edition, the Link Festival has once again decided to bet on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, adding to them a special detail and art installations that combine technology, lighting and surround sound. It was summed up yesterday at the gates of the La Vega Arms Factory by Chairman of the Ceremony Jose Castellano, who also acted as a guide on the official visit to the facilities. This journey through the senses is not without personalities such as the Mayor, Alfredo Canteli, the Councilor of Culture, David Alvarez -and the head of the Municipal Foundation for Culture, festival organizer- and other municipal officials; Asturias also counts the presence of Commander Ignacio Costa as a representative of the defense team of the President.
The first stop was the ‘Library of the Winds’ – or ‘Library of the Winds’ – where creator Haseeb Ahmad explained firsthand how he “mechanized” his research into wind. Eighteen different genres – from all over the world – are represented and recreated. “Air affects many of our senses, it surrounds us, we don’t see it, but we can feel and hear it. That’s why if you stand on the stage you can feel that they are around you,” added the artist.
Next attention is called to ‘Ataraxi’, a famous piece played only when light falls. Maxime Houot, one of the author’s assistants, was in charge of unraveling its mysteries. In it, Nicolas Guichard underlined the intention of creating a feeling through lighting, color and music. “There are fifteen props with lasers that drag in the air. We invite the public to interact with them to achieve ‘ataraksia’ or peace of mind,” he said.
A few meters away, ‘Qu4dr4nt’, installed by the Collectif Arbuste group, is based on music and light, but very dynamic. “We are musicians and the field that interests us the most is electronics. With this piece, what we wanted was for the public to interact with the drum machine in a way that always sounded great, in a very playful way,” explained Mathieu Bernaud from Coot.
The last part of the link exhibition is the one that attracts the attention of the audience. With a special focus on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, ‘enter’ the paintings and the art around them using different devices. In fact, one of the things that amuse the visitors the most – and, yesterday, when the officials visited- VR glasses, youthful and modern products “in a few years everyone will be at home”, as Castellano predicted. A detail inspires curiosity about its technology.
Precisely, the demand for this version of the festival is to attract forward the young audience who are more accustomed to this kind of progress. “The connection demonstrates new different art fields, connecting with the so-called ‘digital natives’. Therefore, it is a way of appreciating art for an audience that is very difficult to capture for cultural programs,” said the mayor of culture.
Therefore, Álvarez wanted to call this free experience: “Like everything in culture, discover without prejudice, let yourself go, enjoy, dream and escape”.
