XR-Exhibition
The Oneironautica series
Concept and production: Laurenz Ulrich x MIREVI
Content concept: Christian Geiger
Development: Leon Repp, Christian Zimmer, Laurenz Ulrich
Sound design: Laurenz Ulrich
Consultancy: Ivana Družetić-Vogel, Sven Schlötcke
At the Dance Museum, you will encounter the final three episodes of the Oneironautica series: Alienation, Transformation and Catalyst.
The series consists of interactive virtual reality (VR) installations developed by MIREVI in collaboration with Laurenz Ulrich and the Theater an der Ruhr as part of the ‘Theatre of Expanded Realities’ project. The series explores the intersections between theatre and digital space, expanding narrative forms and aesthetic experiences beyond traditional stage formats. Representation, perception and participation are re-examined.
Five episodes were created between 2023 and 2026. They depict the same recurring virtual environment: a three-dimensionally scanned theatre that has been transformed, through point-cloud aesthetics, into an ever-changing architecture of memory and perception. Point-cloud data possesses dreamlike qualities; the episodes draw on these by evoking the sensation of waking from a lucid dream. The series was conceived around the theatre’s seasonal themes and inspired by literary and philosophical texts. It translates these into sound, movement and interaction. How can consciousness, identity, social relationships and imagination be experienced through VR?
The Oneironautica series is a production by the MIREVI team (Mixed Reality and Visualisation, Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences) and the Theater an der Ruhr in Mülheim an der Ruhr, as part of the research project ‘Theatre of Augmented Realities’. Funded by: the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the NEUE WEGE programme, in collaboration with the NRW KULTURsekretariat
For further information, click on the following titles:
Oneironautica III: Alienation
Texts: Franz Kafka
Voices: Steffen Reuber (The Bridge, Homecoming), Dagmar Geppert (The Vulture, The Community)
The focus is on four parables by Franz Kafka (1883–1924): ‘Homecoming’, ‘The Bridge’, ‘The Vulture’ and ‘The Community’. They are staged as audiovisual sculptures, combining literature, sound and spatial abstraction. Four mysterious forms beckon the viewer to draw nearer – only up close do they reveal their true form.
Kafka’s concise, dense narratives revolve around alienation, identity and the tension between the self and others, blending seamlessly into the dreamlike, introspective atmosphere of the virtual space. The result is a meditative journey into the depths of human existence; the complex and often painful nature of interpersonal relationships becomes tangible.
Oneironautica IV: Transformation
Voices: Steffen Reuber (intro, outro), AI-generated voice (poems)
Text source / inspiration: Zhuangzi, The Butterfly Dream (trans. Richard Wilhelm, 1912); Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream Within a Dream (1849)
Germany 2026, 8’
Inspired by the ‘Butterfly Dream’ of the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi (4th century BC), the installation explores the shimmering boundary where identity dissolves and is reborn.
Is it I who am dreaming? Or is something else dreaming through me?
The paradox of the butterfly is re-examined: what form does a beautiful dream take when it is passed on?
A spoken narrative introduces the Butterfly Dream and opens up an in-between state in which visitors are invited to voice motifs from a beautiful dream. These detach themselves from their source and merge with the traces left by those who came before. On the stage of the virtual theatre, the collected dream images appear to float: words give rise to forms, forms to verses, and verses to a tapestry. Drawing on the Japanese Tanka-Renga tradition, individual contributions come together to form a shared, ever-growing poetic chain.
It is an invitation to share one’s own beautiful dream – and to find oneself reflected in the visions of others.
Oneironautica V: Catalyst
Source text / Inspiration: Fyodor Dostoevsky, *The Dream of a Ridiculous Man* (1877); Charlie Chaplin, *The Great Dictator* (1940)
Germany 2026, 8’
The final instalment of the Oneironautica series explores the relationship between individual action and collective behaviour through embodied interaction. The viewer enters a crowd of abstract humanoid figures whose movements reorganise themselves depending on proximity and distance.
In the first phase, the interaction leads to the emergence of an increasingly hostile and united crowd, evoking conformity and authoritarian escalation. At a turning point, a light source triggers a second phase. Individual figures gradually regain their openness and benevolent behaviour. Participants can influence this positive transformation through movement and presence.
Inspired by the works of Dostoevsky and Chaplin, the installation invites participants to experience just how fragile collective systems are and how even small gestures can generate both horror and hope.
We are nature!
Germany 2026, ∞
Concept and choreography: Anja Neubecker
The Pulheim-based artist writes: The earth to which we return is the earth upon which we dance. Everything is transient. How do we wish to treat it? If we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. We exist only in co-existence with it. As we immerse ourselves in this complex interconnectedness, all our senses awaken, and we recognise the beauty of all species and of creation. Intuition and creativity open up new possibilities for us and allow us to engage playfully with nature, with ourselves and with other people. Through this connection, we live in space and time. The memory of remembering is rewritten anew every day. Games to experience global healing through togetherness!
