Experience Alisa Berger's ‘RAPTURE’ at Kunsthalle Osnabrück
Alisa Berger
After showing at the European Media Art Festival from April 23-27, Alisa Berger’s RAPTURE remains on view at Kunsthalle Osnabrück in Osnabrück, Germany, until May 25.
With a background in film and art installations, RAPTURE marks Berger’s first foray into experimentation with virtual reality technology. Comprised of two pieces– RAPTURE I - VISIT, an eighteen-minute video projection, and RAPTURE II - PORTAL, a nineteen-minute VR composition– the project follows the experience of twenty-four-year-old Ukrainian Vogue dancer Marko. Hailing from the Donbas region of Ukraine (now under Russian control), Marko has been unable to return to the apartment they shared with their mother since 2018. Berger recreates the flat using 3D photogrammetry scans taken from inside the Russian-occupied area, allowing Marko the chance to go home again.
Alisa Berger
RAPTURE I - VISIT focuses on Marko as they experience their apartment wearing a VR headset, with the viewer watching on as they reenter for the first time in many years. Marko focuses on the small details of the space and reflects on memories with their late mother as they move through each room. They work through a mixture of challenging emotions during the video’s short runtime, at one point remarking, “This is the only way for me to visit home.” Through RAPTURE I, the audience is positioned as an eyewitness to Marko’s painful reunion with the life they once lived.
RAPTURE II – PORTAL places the viewer within Marko’s perspective, with them guiding us through the virtual rendering of their apartment via a hypnotic session. Channeling Marko’s penchant for movement, components of Vogue dance are showcased within each room. Marko comments on their mother’s illness, which left her disabled during their childhood, creating parallels between the fragility of the human body, the haunting of remembrance, and the perils of wartime.
With this year’s EMAF subject, “Witnessing Witnessing,” working to explore how witnesses operate within the contemporary zeitgeist, RAPTURE’s concepts around seeing and being seen confront the impacts of the Russo-Ukrainian War, as experienced through Marko’s viewpoint. Berger’s diptych powerfully confronts our notions of home and how they can be transformed and shattered by international conflict.
Alisa Berger
Before its showcase at EMAF, RAPTURE was featured at several festivals, including the Berlinale’s Forum - Expanded section and the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Most recently, Berger was awarded the Best Immersive Work Award at the One World Human Rights Film Festival. RAPTURE remains on view at Kunsthalle Osnabrück through May 25.