IMMERSIVISM
"Immersivism...the art of the internet"
You shouldn't think of Immersivism as new, but rather an old art movement that's finally gotten a name.
Creativity in online worlds has existed for as long as the internet has. The first person to create art inside these early worlds is who we refer to as "Artist X". Their identity is unknown.
The 90s wave of consumer VR brought new experiments in art and graphics. A great book which documents this era is Sex Drugs and Tesselation: The Truth About Virtual Reality by Ben Delaney.
To learn more about artists who pioneered this era, click here.
Second Life is an early 2000s-era virtual world which has enjoyed generations of artists who have left their mark there. From Patrick Moya to Bibbe Hansen to Duran Duran, these artists have inspired the establishment of land grants and residencies to guide new creatives forward.
The virtual museum and world of Patrick Moya in Second Life.
At the same time, painters such as Kristoffer Zetterstrand were beginning to depict video game imagery on traditional canvas. Zetterstrand's work would end up in the survival sim best-seller Minecraft.
"Graham", Kristoffer Zetterstrand (2003)
Bryn Oh is a multidisciplinary artist who has been active in Second Life since 2007. Originally an oil painter, she has translated her virtual work to sculpture and canvas and back again.
In 2020 Bryn predicted the term "Immersivist" would be used by virtual artists one day.
She is considered the first intentional Immersivist. Oh's experiments in presentation and medium laid the foundation that would become standard for virtual artists.
"Lobby Cam" painting, Bryn Oh, oil on canvas (2014)
Bryn Oh (top right) has had many exhibits both in virtual and physical reality (right)
Vista Matsuri by PammeMatth (Platform: VRChat)
VR reentered its commercial era in the 2010s with headset offerings from Oculus and Valve. With this came the expansion of new platforms: VRChat, NeosVR, Altspace, High Fidelity, and WaveXR. While some platforms wouldn't last, others were successful with exploration in virtual architecture and design. A virtual rave movement kicked off in the 2020s and developed into a wider music community spanning several immersive platforms.
K. Guillory is a writer and artist who gained additional education via Second Life art programs. Painting an avatar as an experiment in 2016, she spoke with Bryn Oh afterwards about the possibility of a virtual art movement. Guillory prototyped the movement idea that year with the name "Gridism". She then documented the creation of blind contour and plein air paintings with a physical canvas while wearing a VR headset.
Clockwise:
"Portrait of a Femme", K. Guillory, oil on canvas (2024)
A blind contour drawing of a virtual avatar, drawn in Procreate
A video of Guillory testing a cross-reality portrait painting session with user Regenstorm
Oz Pearsall is a gouache painter who has run The Strange Pear art gallery in VRChat since 2022. The Strange Pear and many galleries like it in VR have become virtual salons for users to attend and share work with.
Pearsall helped to repopularize and commercialize physical painting commissions of virtual avatars in the English VR community.
Clockwise:
The Strange Pear Gallery logo
"The Blackmold Bard", Oz Pearsall, gouache on hardboard (2024)
"Guardian of the Star", Oz Pearsall, gouache on hardboard (2024)
Pearsall and Guillory lead a group meeting about Immersivism at The Strange Pear.
On August 3rd 2024, Guillory delivered a speech at The Strange Pear about the benefits of naming the emerging virtual art movement. Pearsall hosted and urged other artists to attend. Together, they exchanged name suggestions and ultimately voted for "Immersivism" on August 16th.
Guillory then searched for Oh to deliver the news--the two artists hadn't spoken in years due to Guillory relocating to a different platform. Oh confirmed their own research and original name prediction.
On September 11th 2024, Guillory held another presentation about Immersivism's full origin story with XR Women. It was there that she, Pearsall, Oh, and other Immersivists met on one platform for the first time.