A virtual reality experience based on the work of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, ‘Creation of the Worlds’will be screened at the Venice Film Festival ( Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia) at the end of August! “This is one of the most meditative and visually spectacular experiences we have ever seen,” says Liz Rosenthal, one of the Biennale’s curators .“It is a fascinating way to breathe life into and update the national cultural heritage”,praised the organisers of the Venice Film Festivalfor Creationof the Worlds .

The work by Kristina Buožytė and Vitalius Žukas is included in this year’s competition programme and is the second virtual reality experience created by Lithuanians to be screened at this prestigious film festival. In 2018, the film Trail of Angels, also based on paintings by M.K. Čiurlionis, was screened at the festival.

Today we talk to Vitalijus Žukas, one of the creators of Creation of the Worlds, about his work, the upcoming Venice Film Festival and virtual experiences.

Will you be in competition at the Venice Film Festival?

Yes, we’ll be taking part in Venice Immerssive, a programme dedicated to virtual and mixed-media expression. The Venice Festival is the first Class A festival to have such a programme, and the selection committee is made up of some of the world’s most authoritative experts in the field. So if you’ve made it into this programme, you’ve done something good!

Did you feel any interest in this festival seven years ago with the virtual reality experience “Trail of Angels”?

Yes! As soon as the festival programme is announced, letters start pouring in with offers to take part in other international festivals, because the organisers are looking closely at who has been selected in Venice, and at the festival itself you can meet very important and interesting people who are looking for something to support, something to invest in.

For the first virtual reality experience created in Lithuania, did you choose M. K. Čiurlionis? Why?

When we were working with M. K. Čiurlionis’ paintings, we were already thinking about other works. We were thinking about what kind of artist we would like to work with. And we realised that finding another artist is a challenge. Because after working with Čiurlionis, you don’t find any other artist who has created such a complete universe.

Čiurlionis’ paintings are like the leaves of an oak tree, forming an entire world. Čiurlionis did not create individual paintings, but had a big vision, from which his paintings were born. Each of his works is part of a huge world made up of millions of details. For example, in the virtual reality experience ‘Trail of Angels’, there is an episode in which the viewer, like an angel, begins to ascend and meets the Creator.

And then look at the Rex painting – you will see that it is like a map of that journey. A multi-layered map. If you look at each layer separately, you will realise that there are separate paintings in each layer.

Another reason for taking up M.K. Čiurlionis is his message to us. It is as if he is saying, “Stop and look at the world around you. It is something more than what you see in everyday life.”

This is his mission, which is very interesting to continue in virtual reality, where one is completely immersed in the world depicted. Virtual reality offers the possibility of creating a miracle and immersing the viewer in it.

Why is your second work called Creation of the Worlds?

I didn’t want to repeat “Trail of Angels”, but to create something new. M.K. Čiurlionis’s cycle is called “The Creation of the Worlds” and ours is called “Creation of the Worlds.” Why? Because we are not talking about the creation of a particular world, but about a creator who creates his worlds. After all, each person creates his or her own world. Life itself is an act of creation, so our creation is an ode to the creator – to the creator God, to the creator man. To the Creator – in the grand sense.

K. Buožytė has told us that in preparation for the virtual reality experiences “Trail of Angels” and “Creation of the Worlds” she used to look through M. K. Čiurlionis’ albums, and in the museum she observed the paintings for a long time, as if she was trying to talk to them. And you?

We used to visit the museum together, look at the paintings and talk to the museum staff. Sitting in front of the paintings and imagining them in space was one of the exercises we did in preparation for this piece.

I was living in my farmhouse in the countryside to prepare for my work. By the way, the nature there is very similar to the one that fascinated and inspired M. K. Čiurlionis. It was there that I spent the summer reading Vytautas Landsbergis’s books about Čiurlionis, and that is how I came up with the idea of dedicating this work to him.

Who came up with the idea to undertake these projects – you or K. Buožyte?

Kristina and I have been working together for a very long time – since the film Aurora. When you work with someone for a long time, you start to think alike. I’ve been interested in virtual reality since before it existed, when it was just a concept. Virtual reality is a way to enter another world. I have also been interested in modern technology. So when Kristina said she wanted to create a virtual reality experience based on the paintings of M.K. Čiurlionis, I didn’t have to think long. I have admired this artist for a long time.

I remember the first time they brought us students to the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum, and I left the museum spellbound. All the children were playing and I couldn’t think about anything else. It was like touching a miracle. I felt like I was on the verge of a fantastic world.

What do you think is the future of virtual reality experiences? Is the genre still in its infancy?

Yes. It is therefore very interesting to contribute to its growth. However, so far the genre has not developed as much as I would like. We presented the work ‘Trail of Angels’ at the Venice International Film Festival. It was only the second year that the virtual reality programme was launched at the festival. We saw all the works that were presented that year. It seemed like – wow, what an exciting start!

And last year we noticed that the standard of the works had dropped. I think it was because a lot of developers were enthusiastic about it at the beginning, and then found that it wasn’t very worthwhile. The costs are high and there are not enough audiences to make the projects profitable. So a lot of developers tried it and then went their own way. But the vision is not going away, and I think that virtual reality will develop step by step.

And don’t forget that there is also Augmented Reality technology (“Augmented Reality” – technology that adds digital information to the real world, such as images, sounds, text or 3D objects – ed.). It is also attracting a lot of interest. I think that in the future, these two technologies will coexist in a handy device with two modes: either you integrate digital information into the real environment or you immerse yourself completely in the virtual space. If there are many users of these technologies, there will be many developers. An example is the mobile platform. Since almost everybody has a smartphone, there are a lot of people developing apps for them.

Creation of the Worlds is currently touring #Lithuania, and can be experienced in Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Palanga, Druskininkai and other places. For more information – angelutakais.lt