The Hicks Art Center Gallery at Bucks County Community College is breaking new ground with its first virtual reality exhibition, “Reality’s Fugue: Virtual Reality Meets Art & Philosophy.”
The 10-minute VR experience is based on F. Samuel Brainard’s book “Reality’s Fugue: Reconciling Worldviews in Philosophy, Religion, and Science” and offers participants an immersive journey through nonhierarchical worldviews.
Brainard, an independent scholar of Asian and Western religions and philosophy, collaborated with David Tamés to produce and direct the project.
Unlike typical gaming VR, “Reality’s Fugue” focuses on exploring shared creative experiences, illustrating an origin story that demonstrates how individuals are simultaneously unique and part of a collective. The exhibition aims to visually represent the book’s core concept of reconciling diverse perspectives, organizers said.
The VR experience features dynamic visuals, realistic audio narration, and motion tracking without hand controllers.
The Hicks Art Center installation, redesigned by Christian Kowalchuk in collaboration with Brainard, utilizes two gallery rooms to enhance the individual experience for each participant.
Carol Cruickshanks, who hosted the premiere at New Hope Arts in January 2024, returned as co-producer for the Hicks Art Center exhibition to oversee the staging, refine installation, and new collaborations.
The project is a collaborative effort, with contributions from artists Cruickshanks, Susanne Pitak-Davis, Aurelle Purdy Sprout, and Stacie Speer Scott. Patrick Nugent served as developer and 3D artist, along with Katerina Pak. Linda Erickson composed the music, Jenny Paschall wrote the narration, and Fran Perlman provided the voiceover.
Technical consultants included Danger Donaghey, Oscar Keyes, and Matt Seibert. Special thanks were extended to New Hope Arts, Stanley Timek and the Bucks County Community College Media Center, Robert Bullington and Front Row Seat Productions, LLC, Susan Bindig, Jeffrey Jacobson, Ryan Murray, Carol Parker, Celia Pearce, and Elizabeth A. Stier.
The exhibition is running through March 1 at the Hicks Art Center Gallery at 275 Swamp Road in Newtown Township.
Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, February 15, 22, and March 1, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, contact gallery@bucks.edu.
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