Swan Methodology
Every morning, quite methodically, I drag myself out of bed put a coat on and take myself for a walk, waking up only as I put one foot in front of the other. Seeing the world empty, for a moment, full of stillness is a curious thing. And then I get to the pond, and a chaotic calm ensues, with the ducks and geese squawking at each other and the swans gliding seamlessly through the water, seemingly unbothered.
It always makes me smile because when you see the swans out of the water, the way they walk is distinctly un-calm, unglamourous even. They are opposite of how they appear in the water, their perfect smoke and mirror shield.
But, I believe It’s what you don’t see that is the interesting part. I want to see the swans vigorously paddling under water. I think it makes what is going on up top, even more impressive.
Naturally, as I am all consumed by theVOV at the moment, it makes me think of how people experiencing walking through the digital exhibitions, ruffling through the behind-the-scenes content and attending events from their living room, might only see the perfect, stress free vision we are putting out.
Of course, the aim is to provide you with an amazing experience. But I think it might be fun to peel back a tarpaulin layer or two and come with me as I take you behind the behind-the-scenes of theVOV.
Whole galleries have been created from scratch, some designed with artists and curators like Sarabande, and others with impeccable attention to detail have been recreated, fire exit signs and all.
We have learnt about polygons (a unit to measure XR capacity), how we can change the size of the artworks, moving them around, the importance of shadows, and how different the user journey is in a digital world.
We work up until the very last minute the exhibitions go live, as just when you think the space is perfect and ready, in a game of whack-a-mole, something else goes wrong and a pesky Easter Egg appears, seemingly out of nowhere. And yes I did just say Easter Egg. It’s the term used to describe secret responses that occur in the digital realm due to an undocumented set of commands.
Weird right? It meant that at one point, you could go outside the Hayward Gallery’s 4 digital walls and you would find yourself in the middle of a field, or rather a depiction of a middle of a field. I really have seen it all at this point.
And that’s just the creation of the spaces, I haven’t even begun to discuss image licensing and copyright, PR mania and working intimately with 15 institutions, which sounds like a manageable amount until you realise that 15 institutions means to speaking to about 40 people a day, each about different specific points.
This experience has been wild, in a word, and I have honestly loved every second. I can only hope the frantic under water paddling has paid off, and you find us swan-like.
with love, from Lottie @theVOV