The Fair Grounds 1

The Fair Grounds 1 marks the first installation of the media art project The Fair Grounds. It consists of six nostalgic coin-operated ‘kiddy rides’: carnivalesque attractions restored to their former glory and covered in a high gloss unicolor polyester layer. Colored in the template of ‘De Stijl’, the famous Dutch modernist art movement of Piet Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld.

The objects are placed behind one another lining up to make a small coaster train. Passersby are invited to take place. They can choose between a motorbike, a horse, a race car, a helicopter, a ‘Pikachu’ and a clown seesaw. Once seated, they don a VR-headset. A big red button will activate the whole ‘coaster train’. Every ride moves autonomously from each other in its own manner.

360˚ / 3D VR Experience
Once inside of the virtual reality, the participants are raced through either Venice and Amsterdam in a high-speed roller- coaster experience. As the kiddy rides move autonomously, the installation turns tourists into art-connoisseurs and art-connoisseurs into tourists.

The Fair Grounds 1 was launched during the Venice Biënnale 2017 in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy in Italy. During the Cinekid Media Festival 2017 the installation won the Golden Lion Audience Award.

As of 2018, several custom-made 360-3D-VR-experiences have been added to the installation, allowing visitors to also choose to take a journey through cities like Hilversum, Culemborg and The Hague. It is possible to create new 360-3D-VR video’s.

Virtual Reality Experience

2017

Concept and Design
DROPSTUFF MEDIA

VR Video
Ard van der Veldt

Venice Biennale 2017
The Fair Grounds 1.0 was launched during the Venice Biënnale, May 2017 in collaboration in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy in Italy

Winner Audience Award Golden Lion Cinekid Festival Amsterdam 2017