| | The Maurice Benayoun's big questions (Is God Flat? 1994) | In November 1994, during the Artifices 3 exhibition which presented, in Saint-Denis, twelve interactive artistic devices , Maurice Benayoun proposed us a first virtual reality device, designed and produced by Z.A Production :
Is God flat ? | video |  | Is God flat ?... he asked the ONYX Reality Engine 2 lent by Silicon Graphics. And the machine (usually dedicated to flight simulators...) answers in real time, extracting from brick walls representations of God derived from Art History. They are floating in the air towards us. The explorer of this virtual world must, however, lead his quest for pious images on his own : from a room entirely bricked up, he can dig through the surrounding walls as many corridors as he wishes, which will move all along his progression. In this way, he digs little by little a labyrinth which architecture he masters, but which seems to have no way out. A fruitful quest, during which one can discover man's multiple representation of his Creator. But also a realistic quest, because while offering themselves, these images reveal their lack of thickness. | | The « first metaphysical video game », say Jean-Paul Fargier (Le Monde, 18/11/94) is like life, where everybody defines his own route and is like the world because this flat and infinite space within which we thought we were moving proves to be a finite and spherical space. Putting the spectator in the centre of the universe, this makes it up between Copernic and Ptolémée. | Is the Devil curved ? Is God flat ? and Is the Devil curved ?
Two virtual reality devices (VR) based on the same principle ... | | |
