A Virtual Reality experience that attempts to recreate the first known outbreak of Polywobbly Fervenitis. According to live footage found on the site in Joshua Tree, California, the depicted artist attempted to setup a complete VR rig under scorching sunlight.
As suggested by the investigation, when the headset was exposed to the desert sun, its display had a chemical reaction that was somehow translated into a digital signal that started a computer virus. The computer virus, that had some kind of primal Artificial Intelligence, managed to mutate itself into a strain of bacteria, now known as Staphyloculus, that spreads through the use of Virtual Reality headsets. In this first incident, the artist was infected by the microorganism and after hosting it for a while, brought it back to Los Angeles and started the spread of Polywobbly Fervenitis. The ability of this sentient microorganism to freely transform from computer virus to real world bacteria has astounded the scientific community that is anxiously looking for a cure.
Credits & Exhibitions
Staphyloculus (or the paradox of site specificity of virtual realities), 2017 by Theo Triantafyllidis
Sound Design: Holly Waxwing
On Site team: Jenny Rodenhouse, Eli Joveta, Lander
Additional Photogrammetry: Régis Boissenin
Commissioned by NRW-Forum Dusseldorf, DE
Exhibition History:
2017 Unreal, NRW Forum, Düsseldorf, DE
2017 Pretzel Twist, The Breeder Gallery, Athens, GR
2017 International Topsellers – Human Product, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Wien, AT
2018 Notes on Today from Tomorrow, IRL Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Theo Triantafyllidis
Theo Triantafyllidis is an artist who was born in 1988. Theo Triantafyllidis has had several gallery and museum exhibitions, including at the Meredith Rosen Gallery and at the NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft. There have been many articles about Theo Triantafyllidis, including ‘Hot on Digital Art’s trail in Venice’ written by Tina Sauerlaender for Arte Fuse in 2017.
