When conceiving the Le Vol series, Sparks was exploring the work of artists and theorists who looked at the history of immersive and illusory environments, particularly the theorist Oliver Grau. Sparks points to Grau's discussion of virtual reality as a technique that is not a new phenomena. It can be traced to the classical world which is now evident in immersion strategies of contemporary virtual art. It is fascinating to tease out what has driven Sparks to rupture her own practice and utilise digital technology that contrasts her aesthetically beautiful large scale printed works. 

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For Sparks it is the all consuming, immersive environment that breaks down the boundaries between the viewer and the image. Suddenly there is no barrier as the viewer becomes an active participant in the work; forcing the viewer into a dislocated space and inducing a sense of vertigo that forces them to look at and experience the world differently. Historically, illusory installations such as fresco paintings on walls in Pompeii, tromp l'oiel garden scenes and panoramic ceilings in Baroque churches were forcing down the forth wall to create the illusion of another space. With Sparks's 3D light works she is dissecting the objects through points of light, and dissolving the everyday forms that surround us into the digital realm. 

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A new reality

As with the Le Vol series, Sparks has created a new reality within a work that in itself in flux; a state of becoming. These 3D light works create points of light that reference landscape and architecture that surround us everyday, but pulls the viewer into the object itself – bringing the outside in – a vertigo inducing experience. 

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In playing with reality Sparks asks us to experience the world differently. Virtual Reality alters the environment in a unique way. The disorientation of the viewer physically changes the environment causing a 'heightened bodily awareness'. The 3D works create the sense of vertigo and disorientation in a way that her previous works have not. It creates a real dislocation of place for the participant to become an immersive experience for the viewer who is forced to actively become a participant. They bring themselves and their own experiences and worldview into interpreting and experiencing the work. She is asking the viewer to become an active participant by stepping into a virtual landscape. 

 

Sparks is interested in how these 3D technologies might enable her to activate the entire gallery space; to create an environment where the viewer can move through and become part of the visual field. At the heart of Sparks’s practice has always been the intersection of the idea and the medium, constantly in flux and responding to each other. This experimental sensibility, a desire to explore the medium with new and cutting edge technologies, is illustrative of how fundamental creativity is to innovation. It is exciting to think where Sparks will take us next and how far she can push the medium.