nl12 | lab is currently working on ‘The March’ a virtual reality on the culture of war.
Expected autumn/winter 2024
The March is a non-linear opera-without-words in VR that deals with our relations and responsibilities with war, inequality, violence and social conflict. The experience is about culture and consequences of war in our society. Visitors will find themselves in the shoes of perpetrator, victim and passive spectator. War is close and we’re part of it.
The VR The March is intertwined with a multitude of visual narratives. The visual content comes from our homes where we – consciously or unconsciously – keep the remnants of our history. Our (violent) history is hidden in the little statues on our bookshelves, tropical plants in our living rooms and many remnants in the public world around us. In the virtual world objects, photos and other elements merge into a new visual language as a connecting factor. Guided by various variations on march music, we wander through the era 1860-2025 with metaphors of winners, losers and victims.
With The March we want to create a tool for dialogue. Not just the people involved like victims, their offspring or sympathisers but especially passive bystanders and also: perpetrators. By being heirs of history and consumers of world trade, we’re all involved and therefore share responsibility.
Pictures under: Our friends from Yamarou Photo from Bamako, Mali visiting our Amsterdam studio to explore and discuss Walzer and the first skeches of The March.
