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	+ VIRTUALITIES EVENTS AT TATE MODERN 2017 + 4 one-day events with international artists, designers, educators, and researchers discussing critical points in the re-emergence of VR technology. Produced in association with the Tate Modern Tate Exchange, The Digital Maker Collective with funding from the Graduate School at Chelsea, CCW, UAL Introduction In May 1995 I was part of a research group that organised an event at the Tate Gallery called Virtual Reality and the Gallery, with presentations by Roy Ascott, Matt Mullican and Margaret Morse among other internationally renowned artists and speakers. Just over twenty years since then and Virtual Reality is once again at the forefront of technological development. As part of the Digital Maker Collective events at Tate Modern in February and March 2017, I organised four symposia that sought tobring together academics and practitioners to critically re-examine Virtualities to consider the implications and opportunities for VR in creative practices within Art and Design. Virtualities Symposia at the Tate Modern 2017 Virtual Reality is a sublime technology, beautiful and terrifying. It has re-emerged as the medium at the forefront of digital technology and with it comes a great deal of promise, hope and hype. In its current iteration the technology is scalable, accessible, democratic and it actually works, so what does it have in store for us, how will it change our lives? 01. Virtual Histories: Then + Now Wednesday 8th February 2017. 12.00-14.30 What are the historical events that have shaped and informed Virtual Reality to this point? We will look at some of the events and developments that propel us into parallel, simultaneous and virtual space. We will explore moments in the history of immersion specifically in relation to Art and Design practice as we seek to plot some of the critical points that map our trajectory into Virtual Futures. ` Peter Maloney [UAL] Organiser and Convener will be joined by speakers: - Dr Kevin Atherton [Performance Artist] - Dr Tim O’ Riley [Artist Researcher] 02. Virtual Economies: Work + Play Wednesday 22nd February 2017. 12.00-14.30 Virtual Reality immerses us in an active, participatory space that is networked, global and where our every action is measured. How will VR shape work and the activity of creative practice in Art and Design? How will we make money? What will we spend it on? Does VR take us beyond materialism or is it the ultimate in total consumption? Peter Maloney [UAL] Organiser and Convener will be joined by speakers: - Allison Crank [UX Designer] - Rhiannon Monks [Start VR] - Oluwaseyi Sosanya [Gravity Sketch] 03. Virtual Bodies: Self + Other Wednesday 8th March 2017. 12.00-14.30 Head-set and mind-set in the empathy machine. We will look at the body and identity in Virtual Reality. VR is a technology that challenges our senses and distributes our body between digital and analogue space. Where are we then? Who or what can we become in this interstitial space? What are the politics and ethics of the virtual body? How will we behave? Will VR lead us further towards becoming Cyborgs? Peter Maloney [UAL] Organiser and Convener will be joined by speakers: - Ersin Han Ersin [Marshmallow Laser Feast] - Jo Stockham [RCA] - Piera Mascoli Denker-Rasmussen [UAL] 04. Virtual Spaces: Here + There Wednesday 22nd March 2017. 12.00-14.30 Virtual Reality promises to take us to new places, somewhere we have'nt been before. They can also take us to places that do exist but are too far away, either in time or distance. What is the emerging nature of these new Virtual Spaces? What can they do and how will we engage with them? How are the narratives for these virtual worlds developed, defined and constructed. What are the possibilities for Art and Design practices and Institutions. What are the strategies and methods needed to design experience? Peter Maloney, Organiser and Convener will be joined by speakers: - Dr Ken Wilder [UAL] - Patrick Morgan [Room One VR] - Daniel Cheatham [Happy Finish] funded and supported by the CCW Graduate Research Fund Tate Modern Exchange Digital Maker Collective				Virtual Bodies: Marshmallow Laserfeast, In the Eyes of the Animal Virtual Economies: Allison Crank, The Reality Theatre: Shopping in the Ludic Century, 2015 Virtual Histories: Tim O' Riley, Prototype, Inkjet, 82 x 104cm, 2002 Virtual Histories Kevin Atherton, Gallery Guide, Performance, 1999