On the evening of May 7th 2021, the three winners of the VR ART PRIZE were announced at an award ceremony. The jury, consisting of Dr. Clara Meister (Curatorial Officer, Gropius Bau), Esther Schipper (Founder and CEO Galerie Esther Schipper), Daniel Völzke (Head of Online Editorial Monopol), Jan Walther (Member of the Board, Deutsche Kreditbank AG) and Dr. Marc Wellmann (Artistic Director, Haus am Lützowplatz), selected the three winners of the VR ART PRIZE from the five nominated artistic projects.
THE FIRST PRIZE OF 5.000€ WENT TO LAUREN MOFFATT, THE SECOND PRIZE OF 4.000€ TO PATRICIA DETMERING AND THE THIRD PRIZE OF 3.000€ TO ARMIN KEPLINGER.
Reasoning of the prize jury:
1ST PLACE
IMAGE TECHNOLOGY ECHOES by Lauren Moffatt captivates the viewer with her multi-layered
installation, an expert interplay between the physical exhibition space and the virtual world. The
ability to experience and immerse oneself in the Moffat’s characters, leads to a reflection on the
possibilities of VR as a medium, and beyond that, to a meditation on interpersonal communication
and individual world views.
2ND PLACE
APORIA by Patricia Detmering is a poetic work that creates an exciting and unexpected world
that stimulates the viewer‘s thoughts. The artist creates a resonant and immersive experience by
interweaving the virtual world composed of watercolors, with the staging in the exhibition space,
particularly through the use of the stone and the plastic chair on which one takes a seat.
3RD PLACE
Armin Keplinger uses a minimalist and stringent visual language to create THE ND-SERIAL.
A technically impressive and critical work, it not only addresses the notion of sculpture in physical
and virtual space, but also creates a dystopian and atmospheric environment that defies the laws
of physics.
DUE TO THE SPECIAL QUALITY OF THE NOMINATED PROJECTS, THE ARTISTS BANZ & BOWINKEL AND EVELYN BENCICOVA RECEIVED A MENTION FROM THE JURY AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING OF €2,500 EACH.
The artist Tobias Dostal designed a trophy especially for this award, which was presented to the three winners at the award ceremony.