The co-founders of the Belgian non-profit artists' collective Workspace Unlimited design and construct dramatic three-dimensional (3-D) virtual environments that people can enter and interact with in a fashion similar to the way in which they might interact with first-person-shooter computer games.
That similarity is no accident. Rather than using high-end computer-assisted design tools to build their worlds, Mr. Soetens and Ms. Van den Bulcke use the core software, or engine, of the hit first-person shooter Quake 3.
The pair began forging their electronic realities three years ago, when they were putting together a complex traditional architectural model for a client. When they saw their neighbour, a gamer, roaming fully realized 3-D environments displayed on his computer screen, they asked whether the same technology could be used to build an interactive digital version of their model.
The neighbour helped them make a Quake 3 "modification" (a customized version of the game commonly called a mod) that recreated the structure and garnered intense attention when they presented both the physical and computer models to the client.
"People were more interested in the game than they were in the model, which took more time and work to build," Ms. Van den Bulcke said.
The experience led them to pursue the construction of game-based environments and structures full-time, an effort that was facilitated by the ease of entry into the gaming community.
"There was a sense of sharing that we found was missing in the art and architecture worlds," Mr. Soetens said.
"Everything was shared," Ms. Van den Bulcke added. "Shared tools and enthusiasm and experience — we downloaded the [Quake 3 developers] code for free, and there were a lot of tutorials and examples of mods available on-line, and a community of people to help."
Using the same technology for their Virtual World of Art (VWA) project, they are now building interactive art installations that bridge the digital and physical worlds.
Their first big project is a recreation and enhancement of the Society of Art and Technology (SAT) building in Montreal. People can tour and interact in the virtual SAT, as well as with individual interactive artworks showcased there, such as:
Diplomatic Arena, which features dozens of automated characters or "bots" in an arena, each of whom represents a world figure such as U.S. President George W. Bush, his vice-president Dick Cheney, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and others. In this meditation on global conflict, every character sees the other as an enemy and tries to kill him or her, but when a character dies, it is instantly reborn and attacks anew. As in the real world, bystanders can only watch helplessly as the cycle of violence plays out before them.
Blind Love puts a couple together in a lightless maze, carrying guns that shoot luminescent particles that scatter and drift to momentarily illuminate the walls. The only way to leave is to find the exit together, but without trust and co-operation, one half of the couple could kill the other's character and be left trapped alone in the darkness.
Paranoid Bot features a suicidal robot that needs to be persuaded it is real, and the visitor must find a way to communicate with it in a room with no obvious means of conversing.
Workspace Unlimited is accepting proposals for more art installations to be incorporated into the virtual SAT.
By employing Quake 3 as the platform for their creations, the duo hopes to be able to engage a generation that they believe has become disaffected and desensitized by an onslaught of omnipresent media.
"Traditional media has pushed the sensation of the viewer to a point where he doesn't feel sensation anymore," Mr. Soetens said. "Games offer an opportunity to try something new."
In November, the pair will debut Devmap, an on-line installation, at the Dutch Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF2004) in Rotterdam. Devmap — which will simultaneously be on display at the SAT and in Gent, Belgium — will incorporate live streaming video, images and sounds of the event in real time as it hovers above a digital recreation of the festival site. Visitors to the VWA (the SAT project) and Devmap will be able to move freely between the two, because they will be interconnected by a virtual portal.
The idea is to create a form of constantly changing collective experience and memory of the event that will live long past the festival itself.
"Because games are a non-passive medium, it's much more powerful than TV," Mr. Soetens said. "They are not just for specialists, like painters. They are for everyone."
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