“The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), the UK’s leading sight loss charity, has collaborated with Varjo, the global leader in professional-grade virtual and mixed reality hardware and software, and London-born artist David Van Eyssen, to present an exceptional art installation designed to be experienced by both sighted and non-sighted visitors.
Van Eyssen commented on the installation: “An abandoned bus, fragmented by time and memory, stands frozen at the centre of a dark lake. Crossing the water towards the vehicle, spheres materialize that contain the voices of the missing passengers — people who live without sight, invisible to the seeing world. As we continue to explore the installation, the implication that this work concerns our own blindness is inescapable.”
To bring this unseen experience to life, Van Eyssen collaborated with RNIB to source blind and partially sighted British volunteers to share their personal dreams and reflections on sight loss with the artist.
Additionally, by curating visual and tactile elements outside the virtual experience, such as braille wallpaper, sighted and non-sighted visitors will have the opportunity to explore a world that is all too often hidden, and take part in conversations that have the power to shift perspectives.”
