Kristina Buožytė and Vitalijus Žukas, the creators of the phenomenal virtual reality experience that opened up Čiurlionis’s work to different generations of viewers, realised how many of Čiurlionis’s wonderful works remained unseen and decided to continue with it. The virtual reality experience “Creation of the Worlds” creates a new phenomenon that does not repeat the first one, but invites you to explore the world of Čiurlionis from a new angle, with the help of astonishing technical possibilities.
A different virtual experience: creators invite you on a transcendental journey
The premieres of virtual reality experiences are already taking place all over Lithuania in the jubilee year celebrating the symbol of our nation – Čiurlionis: 28-30 March. “Creation of the Worlds” will be screened in Joniškis, Rokiškis on 4-6 April, and the citizens of Utena can also experience Čiurlionian reality until 6 April (more information about the other screenings can be found here).
“When working with Čiurlionis’s work, it is important not to bring in our own ideas, not to squeeze his works into frames that are comfortable for us, but to open up these works as gently as possible and take from them what the artist was creating, what he was talking about, what he wanted to convey,” says K. Buožytė. She adds that the virtual experiences they created used different works by Čiurlionis: after creating “Trail of Angels”, they saw that there were some very beautiful, strong paintings by the artist that were unused and strong in the meaning they conveyed, and they didn’t want to just leave them in oblivion. “In The Creation of Worlds, the audience can see Čiurlionis’ painting cycles “Creation of the Worlds”, The City, The Deluge, Fantasies, The Serpent’s Sonata, the triptych Fairy Tale, and the much-anticipated The Fairy Tale of Kings.
“If On the Trail of Angels could be likened to auteur cinema, then “Creation of the Worlds” could be likened to a blockbuster, a Hollywood film. There are so many spaces and worlds to visit, it’s really a whole other level of experience. And the soundtrack is also of exceptional quality. We have tried very hard to take this work to a much higher level, both in terms of content and technically, and to make it shine,” says K. Buožytė.
According to Žukas, when they created the second experience, they did not want to repeat or extend it, but to create something new, to try to wade into the same river a second time. He says that the best word to describe “Trail of Angels” is “sacred“, and the best word to describe “Creation of the Worlds” is “transcendent”. “It is a transcendental journey into the inner cosmos, a flight (often even physically felt, controlled) in a certain flow. We wanted the viewer to enjoy that feeling of being in the flow. It is a deep meditation for a person who may not even know how to meditate and doesn’t know what it is.”
Virtual experiences create a unique relationship with art
The creators have presented “Trail of Angels” at festivals and other events around the world. As Kristina says, the presentation in China was very memorable. “People didn’t know anything, they went to watch. Then word of mouth started spreading and the queue to try our virtual reality experience grew. People would watch and then go to the back of the queue to experience it again. Many of the visitors were little old ladies who, even though they could barely hold the VR helmet, were watching and enjoying the experience. I can still see the image today”, smiles K. Buožytė.
Agreeing with the idea that the work has been accepted by a wide range of audiences, Žukas says that when he walked along the paths of the Angels, the audience cried and paused, not only the children, but also artists of the highest level such as Willam Kentridge and Alessandro Baricco. “I remember in Chicago, a mother and her daughter came to see ‘Trail of Angels’. Afterwards, the mother said to us: ‘My daughter has something to tell you’. A little girl looks at me with big beautiful eyes and says: “that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life”. I really almost cried when I heard that… – V. Žukas shares his sensitive experiences. – I also remember my 95-year-old grandmother. Her grandchildren brought her in, sat her down, and put her glasses on. She looked at the AT, sat down, thought about it and said: “if that’s the way it is, then maybe I’m not afraid to die”.
Moreover, the artists say they have heard stories that even homeless people have come to experience “Trail of Angels”, gasping, wondering, commenting on the paintings: this shows that Čiurlionis finds a response even in people who are completely unconnected with art. It is hoped that The Creation of the World will open up Čiurlionis to an even wider audience.
“Unheard of music and special effects in “Creation of the Worlds” – “Trail of Angels”
V. Žukas adds that the two projects are also technically different in terms of scope – the scale of the action in “Creation of the Worlds” is much larger, with more modules, special animations, effects – everything has been scaled up several times, and it is technically advanced.
“Since we had already used a lot of Čiurlionis’ music in The Paths of Angels, and we didn’t want to repeat ourselves in creating a new experience, we decided to take a different, more modern route and worked with Rok Zubov and Phil Won. They had already had experience of modern interpretations of Čiurlionis’ music in the project “Going in Peace”, so in “Creation of the Worlds” we hear a modern interpretation of Čiurlionis’ music – the artist’s work is intertwined with contemporary electronic experimental music and Zubov’s concert piano performances. This soundtrack immerses us in that hypnotic transcendental state,” he says.
Čiurlionis’ work touches everyone – children and art stars cry
As V. Žukas notes, Čiurlionis’ relevance is eternal and unchanging; this artist, regardless of the time period, spoke about things that were relevant to every person. “I mean the relationship with the universe, the sense of it, the perception of it, the joy in its wonder, the sacredness of the world we live in. Not only the world around us, but also the world inside us,” explains Žukas. – Čiurlionis always talked about the fact that there is something more than what we see with our eyes. With his work, he tried to show us that other world, its beauty, its splendour, to see the beauty of the outer world through the prism of the beauty of the inner world. This is just as relevant as it was 1,000 years ago or will be in the future.”
V. Buožytė, adding to Žuka, observes that Čiurlionis’ work is always dominated by several worlds, several layers. “This fractality does not end when looking both outwards and inwards – there is no end. You cannot stop. You can see a maturity in his work – a maturity that defies time. The themes that Čiurlionis explored, say, the creation of the world, have been relevant for as long as humanity has existed. His work is about timeless, common humanity. The further you go into the forest, the more trees there are – the more closely you look at Čiurlionis’ paintings, the more depth you see in them”, she says with a smile.
She says that the first Čiurlioni VR experience was equally well received both in Lithuania and abroad, with the experience being equally well received by a variety of audiences. “This shows that Čiurlionis has encoded so much meaning and impact in his works that it catches both those who know him and those who don’t,” says Buožytė.
Will there be more works about Čiurlionis?
“We will keep working, creating VR works. Because well-made, high-quality work (which is very difficult to achieve, time-consuming, budget-consuming) is very influential. The most important thing is that the feeling we want to convey reaches people,” says Buožytė. – Will our next works be about Čiurlionis? We don’t close our doors, we are open.”
He also welcomes the fact that virtual reality projects have already started to be funded in Lithuania. “With “Trail of Angels”, we have reached an audience that few films reach. So the investment is paying off. I also see that we are inspiring more creators: there are more productions in the field, more infrastructure, more venues to show these experiences,” he says. However, he says that funding is not yet proportional: simple animated films that require less work are better funded than interactive animated experiences. However, a new stream of creators is already emerging, and attention to this field is expected to increase.
“In our new projects (we may take a break from Čiurlionis’ works for a while, so that we can come back), we will continue to carry the same message and create the same feeling as in our first works. We want to continue to make works that allow people to feel the fragility, the beauty, the wonder of the world. We would like to immerse people again in the same transcendent feeling, to create a euphoria about life and its possibilities. We are not going to go into the horror genre(smiles). We feel that this is a kind of mission of ours – to give people back the ability to feel, to enjoy, to experience emotions, to bring the miracle back into life. After all, the worst thing is when life forces us to live it automatically day after day, to forget how wonderful it is, to stop feeling emotions. By creating these works, we are also giving back to ourselves, reminding ourselves of these things. This is probably what Čiurlionis did, so by working with his work we have become his companions and in a way we are continuing his work,” concludes Žukas.
In 2025, we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mikolas Constantine Čiurlionis, which has been declared a UNESCO anniversary. The Chancellery of the Government, which is curating the programme, invites you to immerse yourself in the work of Čiurlionis under the motto “Deeper than the eye can see” – because the works of the most famous Lithuanian artist of all time are not just images or sounds that can be seen on the surface, but also codes that the curious viewer can investigate. For more information about the programme “Čiurlionis 150”, visit ciurlioniui150.lt.
