Poetry X Willem De Kooning Virtual Reality Lab

Sometimes a poem is so fascinating that you want to step inside it. Second-year animation students of the Willem de Kooning Academy have been working on animations of poems in Virtual Reality since January. This festival Friday, which is all about experiment, you will step into five different worlds; free visual interpretations of poems by Alfred Schaffer, Ronelda Kamfer, Kim Hyesoon and Galina Rymboe, poets who have read their poems at the festival in recent years. So glasses on and go!

The first Animation filmmakers were inventors and illusionists. From the beginning, then, animation evoked a sense of wonder and magic. Poetry and animation are both dynamic media through which a story can be told in a different way every time. In the collaboration between Poetry International and the Willem de Kooning Academy, this tradition of innovation and storytelling was the starting point. With the work of these animators of the future, we already wish you an unforgettable poetic experience.

Corner Shop, after the poem An Ordinary Blue Monday Morning by Ronelda Kamfer
Corner Shop is an immersive VR experience inspired by the poem An Ordinary Blue Monday Morning by Ronelda Kamfer. It tells the story of a broken relationship between a mother and daughter. As the viewer is transported past different settings and across different timelines, the plot and conflicts that define the characters are revealed bit by bit. A mix of an experimental look with live-action images, 3D animation and virtual reality painting.
> Creators: Noémie Le Coq, Adèle Fisch, Jan Willem van Roekel and Carlotta Steckner
> To the poem 

Investigation, after the poem Cutlery by Alfred Schaffer
A roller coaster of a VR inspired by the poem Cutlery Recording by Alfred Schaffer. In the poem, the poet fires off one (un)important question after another at high speed. It leads to confusion and problems that may not be there at all. Obsessive thoughts, hyperfixing, when the time comes you can hardly escape it. Your mind shows you every corner of the room, the worst of the worst, life an uncontrollable mess. And yet, people find the strength to stop the flow, observe their thoughts from a distance, and thus seize apparent control over them. This VR experience takes you on a physical journey through chaos, randomness and the beauty of our consciousness.
> Creators: WipWap Productions: Souf Melad, Alina Najum, Nicole Naranjo Silva and Oleksandra Davydenko
> To the poem 

The Salt Dress Inside Me, after the poem by Kim Hyesoon
Inspired by the poem The Salt Dress Inside Me by Kim Hyesoon, this VR experience encourages you to face grief with an open mind. The storm rises, it is out of control, and emotions push you headlong. Feelings shoot up in all directions like little fish until you reach the bottom and crawl away behind walls you have built yourself. Everything seems foggy until you manage to embrace the sadness that overpowers you as a part of you; the moment when you surface again, in the full light.
> Creators: Dariya Goleva, Denisa Janotová, Leja Kancerevyčiūtė and Kira Ridzi
> To the poem 

VR Translation, after the poem My Father Sleep on the Floor by Galina Rymboe
Poetry is most powerful in its own language. Sound, pace, rhythm, meaning, eloquence, much can be lost in translation. WdKa FATCAT productions therefore animated a surreal piece of life, choosing "feeling" as the starting point for an alternative translation of poetry. In this VR, the universal language of image and sound transports you to the place where the poem originated, Russia, shortly after the collapse of the USSR. The experience is based on the financial situation in which many Russian families found themselves at the time.
> Creators: Kaj Fischer, Ian Merkoulov, Heiki Saikkonen and Maya Zhelyazkova
> To the poem 

FACE, after the poem Face by Kim Hyesoon
Inspired by the poem Face by Kim Hyesoon, the VR experience FACE tells the story of a woman who observes her husband from her imagination. Contrasting elements, from technique to narrative, take you into this surreal VR world that confronts you with your own identity and the choices you can or must make in your relationships and in your personal life.
> Creators: Jesper Admund Funck, Ruben Hessels, Michelle Kloens and Bonne Steinz
> To the poem