‘I’m going to build a portal to another world’ – Jocelyn Anquetil on her virtual reality

What attracted you to creating in virtual reality (VR) and what do you believe the medium can do for your art?

I got into VR when I was at university doing theatre and performance design. I wanted to go against my tutors as they believed the theatre is supposed to be live (they were very traditional). They didn’t like technology and I mentioned one idea about doing something involving tech and they thought it would be terrible, so I guess I decided to create a project in VR to annoy them!

I decided to create a project in VR to annoy my university tutors!

I wanted to investigate whether you could capture the essence of a real life experience or performance that you feel when you’re doing something in a digital realm and what that experience would be.

The conclusion to that was no, it’s impossible. You have to accept that the digital world for what it is and the experiences you have there are completely mad and not real. Virtual reality for me is more interesting as a concept than its execution, as a concept it’s interesting to think of a parallel universe that exists inside and around everything and we can step into it.

You have to accept that the digital world for what it is and the experiences you have there are completely mad and not real.

I like trying to work out with software and the hardware how to make an experience that is heightened from reality and transports you into a new world without having to try to replicate all elements of reality and its fun to experiment with what levels of immersion you can hit.

Where are VR and Actual Reality (AR) heading towards?

I think as an experience it will become more inviting and more shared and there will be more possibilities to do a lot more with it. I think currently with VR, as you have to be by yourself in a room and stick something on your face, people always have a natural barrier that won’t allow them to get fully immersed into it.

Are there recurring themes in your work? If so, why?

Yes I do, but I think it’s quite a broad and overarching tone more so. I’m really influenced by science fiction, surrealist art, hyper dramatisations and melodrama. Most of my projects have a sense of unreality and contain the idea of alternate versions of things that can exist apart from what we know and how structures and perspectives could have been formed differently. I like to focus on female characters and to look at how women have been presented throughout society in popular culture.

Most of my projects have a sense of unreality and contain the idea of alternate versions of things…

Then after this, taking the parts that I find frustrating and hyperbolising them to mess around with them in an ironic way. But, it always has to mean something, there’s always a story behind it, like I said I want to show how the world and universe could be done differently, for example a universe only inhabited by women who have never experienced social conditioning.

So far your work has taken you from VR landscapes to music videos with ASHNIKKO and King Krule, where do you aim to go next?

I take things as they come, all the projects and work I’ve created have been very different from each other. I like to separate my art practice from my music videos but also blend them together, as in they are both the same and different in certain aspects. Music videos are a collaboration, it’s my world that I bring mixed with musicians and other artists and I want to be able to keep doing them.

I want to collab with people that I find inspiring and whose work I admire. But also moving forward with my art practice I’m aiming to create a narrative environment that explores video, installation, VR and sensory elements that are contained in a big story that you have to go experience at a particular place. I’ve also written a science fiction horror film that is starting production soon. I’m probably going to build a portal to another world also at some point.

Is there anyone in particular you would like to collaborate with in the future either in your art or your music videos?

Doja Cat definitely would be so sick, hold on I have my list somewhere…and Alex Prager, the photographer. Alice Lowe (she’s a director and an actress), she’s wicked, she’s made a film called Prevenge and is the woman in Sightseers. Dilara Findikoglu (sick witchy fashion fashion designer), her stuff is insane, also Billie Eilish I would make her some moody emo video. Actually I think I’d want to be mentored by Alex Prager and Alice Lowe and then make some crazy s**t with Doja Cat and Dilara.