2021
At his exhibition, Kristen Rästas presents a VR artwork The Caretaker and sculptural landscapes which have been inspired by the visual forms of the main artwork. The fictional character, the Caretaker, has been named after its figurative position as the creator of the environment. The virtual, eternal landscape is something that the Caretaker tries to design according to the memories of the real world. The empirical journey tells about the desire to preserve and improve the surrounding, increasingly fragile and perceptible environments, while creating artificial visual out of the same environments. And sometimes, these may seem much more ideal and inviting than the real environment. The monologue that is made of the Caretaker's memories, is slightly nostalgic and related to the surrounding landscape. The repetitiousness of audio clips, motionlessness of the environment and the interactive flying ability of the artwork viewer create an uncanny medium as a primary emotion through recognition of natural environment. One cannot be quite sure whether the viewer has been put in the Caretaker's role or has the viewer been taken to a virtual-archeological exposition in the memories of someone unknown that at the same time have the effect of a collective memory while depicting universal natural forms and textures. Through his artwork, Kristen Rästas presents his vision about creating completely new artificial environments and contemporary landscape image as well as the various ways to experience and interpret these environments.
In order to achieve the maximum experience, the interactive virtual artwork needs to be viewed with VR headset and the viewer has to use the remote control. There is a 3D-world that the viewer can discover while hauntingly flying around on his or her own. It is a free platform without a linear beginning and an end. Every viewer continues where the last viewer has left his or her experience.
Artist's gratitude to: Kelli Gedvil, Kennet Lekko, Simon Dalzell, Ian-Simon Märjama. Exhibitions in Hobusepea gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture and Liviko Ltd.
