Kakotopia, VR fragment, oculus rift, computer, screen, 72.12cm x 40.64cm (28” x 16”) archival digital prints, June 21st - July 9th, 2021
Kakotopia, VR installation view, Moore Building, Miami, Florida, oculus rift, computer, screen, 72.12cm x 40.64cm (28” x 16”) archival digital prints, June 21st - July 9th, 2021. Photo © Alian Rives' Studio

According to Philip Kindred Dick, “The basic tool to manipulate reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” For him, there was a possibility of replacing reality with an abstract, ersatz virtual image of it. This technique of social control began with literacy and the creation of written symbols, which devaluated soft conscious sensuous inspiration, created the illusion that written language is a factor, that meaning can be stored, owned, perfectly duplicated, and ended with its virtual representation in cyberspace.

Kakotopia explores the concept of Dystopian Technological Control. It recreates the conception of place as a function of perception and cognition. In addition, it considers the Marxist idea of seeing play as an idealistic, almost utopian dimension, in that it is posited to exist outside the rules and regulations of everyday life.

Kakotopia alludes to the minimal implementation of technological processes beyond the artist’s control. Through an immersive experience, Kakotopia intends to investigate the concept of Phildickian Dystopia in the semiotic possibilities of actions and objects using a poetic and playful approach. 

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