VR Simulation of David Hall’s TV Interruptions: The Installation, 1971/2006

David Hall (1937-2014) was one of the pioneers of video art in the UK, beginning with his ubiquitous TV Interruptions he made for STV in 1971 as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival. He continued to make single screen video works, but his main focus was the creation of video sculptures. Most of these sculptures used old cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors which are no longer manufactured. Although these are still available at the moment, over time they will gradually disappear and it will become more and more difficult to find any working examples. Due to these problems with technological obsolescence, many of Hall’s and numerous other artists works may not be so easily replicated in the future. With this in mind, other ways to present these works need to be considered to allow them to be appreciated by future audiences. One way to do this is by using virtual reality. This paper will discuss the historical background and the recreation of David Hall’s video installation TV Interruptions: The Installation, 1971/2006 in virtual reality. Viewers can experience the work by being immersed in a 3D virtual gallery, giving the viewer an idea and ‘feel’ of what the work would be like in real life. The process of creation, maintaining the integrity of the work, authenticity and the user experience will be examined in the paper. This experiment is part of on-going research we are developing in this field. Adam Lockhart is the Media Archivist & Researcher at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (University of Dundee, Scotland, UK). He is a leading specialist in the conservation, preservation and restoration of artists’ video. Lockhart has worked on a number of AHRC research projects including REWIND| Artists’ Video in the 70s & 80s, Narrative Exploration in Expanded Cinema with Central St Martins College of Art & Design, REWIND Italia, European Women’s Video Art & Richard Demarco: The Italian Connection . He has acted as curator, co-curator and consultant for a number of screenings and exhibitions at organisations such as Tate Modern, Tate Britain, BFI Southbank, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scottish National Galleries of Modern Art, Ambika P3, Streetlevel Photoworks Glasgow, DOCVA in Milan and Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum. Sang-hun Yu is the 3D animation and visualisation specialist at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (University of Dundee, Scotland, UK), where he is also a PhD student. Sang-hun Yu is an expert in the field of 3D animation and visualisation. He currently lectures and delivers workshops related to 3D visualisation to staff and students throughout the university. He is also working with and developing concepts in virtual reality / augmented reality. As part of his PhD, he is working on collaborative VR projects between Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and the Leverhulme Research Centre in forensic science. Before working in his current role, he worked as an animator on various animation projects and TV commercials including the Oscar nominated animated feature film ‘l’illusionniste’ (the Illusionist) directed by Sylvain Chomet.