The article follows Vítor’s participation in the Rendering Research Workshop (Digital Aesthetics Research Center-Aarhus University, Centre for the Study of the Networked Image-London South Bank University, transmediale festival for art & digital culture-Berlin) held in the École de recherche graphique (Brussels) last March.

Previous tests and ideas of this paper can be found in the DIY newspaper done during the Workshop, as well as in the recorded intervention during the transmediale festival 2022.

Abstract:

The main aim of this article is to describe the conceptual basis and challenges of the project Volumetric Frictions. Volumetric Frictions is a queer virtual reality resulting from my will to render my ongoing PhD research (“Digital Speculation, Volumetric Fictions. Volumetric/3D CGI within the queer contemporary debate”) differently. To contextualize the project, I start by addressing contemporary debates about the role of queer, and the practice of queering, in academic institutions. Then, I move forward to describe my PhD research and its provisional results. I name these results “volumetric frictions”, as they define crossing paths between queer theories and 3D/volumetric aesthetics. Finally, I summarize some of the challenges currently being faced in the design of the project. Throughout the article, I make use of contemporary 3D/volumetric art to illustrate ideas, concepts, and possible solutions.

Link to the publication (open access): https://doi.org/10.7146/aprja.v11i1.134308