ABOUT
Unlike most concerts and artistic performances in traditional Western settings, virtual reality experiences reimagine the audience's role, placing them at the core of artistic creation and granting them the agency for a personalized experience. The essence of these virtual environments lies in ensuring that all participants — artists, performers, and spectators — feel integral to the unfolding experience.
My research endeavors to enhance the audience's immersion from the moment they step into a virtual realm, aiming to evoke a profound sense of wonder. For artists, the focus extends beyond the auditory or visual aspects of their work; we delve into the realm of storytelling, interaction, presence, and immersion. The objective is to dismantle the perceptible barriers between the audience and the performers/artists within these virtual landscapes. In my research, this is achieved by developing experiments where the portal plays a central role.
Kristof Timmerman is a designer and director specializing in performances and installations, focusing on live, interactive digital environments and virtual reality. He has collaborated with various theater companies, including CREW. In 2006, he established the transdisciplinary collective studio.POC, through which he created numerous theater performances and installations such as Kroes (2008), Bloggers (2010), EGG (2014), Bodymap (2015), Empty Mind (2021), Glasshouse (2023), Uncertain Tides (2024), and Dissolution (2024).
Kristof Timmerman chairs Maxlab, the research group exploring the interaction between art and digital technology at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and is currently pursuing his doctoral research titled ‘Sense of Wonder. Artistic portals between the real and the virtual’. He was a key initiator of the Immersive Lab at the AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts and organizes the annual summer school ‘Storytelling in Virtual Reality. An Immersive Encounter’.
imal.org/kristoftimmerman.com
linkedin.com/in/kristof-timmerman-61a624171
instagram.com/kristof.timmerman
CREDITS
Collaborators: imal.org/studiopoc.com, instagram.com/studio.poc
Images by: Kristof Timmerman
