Please note that this project is not part of the actual programme for PSi #17. It is given as an artistic example of recent '2.0' interpretations of the Camillo theme.

At the end of the Virtual Reality hype of the 1990's VR was often called a ‘fantasy machine’ that allowed the possibility of going anywhere and doing anything imaginable. Hegedüs created a memory theatre that lets the viewer interactively reconstruct the history of VR, as she says: “The idea for Memory Theater VR is based on historical models, which contained contextually defined archive rooms, whose messages were disclosed through certain visual codes and in many respects can be considered the forerunners of our current virtual computer architecture. [...] The interactive installation creates dynamic reference systems of an intermedia nature. Agnes Hegedüs reawakens these historical associations. They are supplemented by reference to the auditorium. The rotunda which determines the borders of the environment in the real room is made into a place for the presentation of a virtual reality. An interactive film on the history of deception in space, is cleverly staged through a doubling of the situation in the interface. These concepts of virtual reality are based on works by Libeskind and Ivan Sutherland; along with concepts of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and cabinets of curiosities. The comparison of mannerist, futurist, or even deconstructivist virtualities makes the stay in the panorama an exciting experience. It is supplemented with quotations from the artist's work, which can be seen as a manifesto of a continuous fascination with fantasy” (Schwarz 1997).  

References 

Hans-Peter Schwarz (ed.), Media Art History. ZKM Media Museum, Munich/Amsterdam 1997, p. 121.
Quote available online at MedienKunstNetz / MediaArtNet.