Dalí Cybernetics opens its virtual worlds in Istanbul
Dalí Cybernetics has opened at Istanbul’s Digital Experience Centre, bringing Salvador Dalí’s imagery into projection and virtual environments. Layers of Reality developed the exhibition with the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation’s support. The Istanbul presentation also includes Ara Güler’s photographs of the artist, while cinema and interactive installations explore Dalí’s work and interest in science.
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Dalí’s images enter Istanbul’s digital rooms
Dalí Cybernetics: A Journey into the Mind of a Genius has opened at Istanbul’s Digital Experience Centre. The exhibition brings Salvador Dalí’s imagery into virtual reality and large-scale projection, with the Istanbul opening set for 22 October.[1], [2]
Barcelona-based Layers of Reality developed the exhibition with support from the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation. According to the announcement from Kültür AŞ, the Istanbul venue covers approximately 2,000 square metres. The presentation approaches Dalí through his interest in science as well as his art, including DNA, geometry, the fourth dimension and nuclear physics. The exhibition first opened in Barcelona in 2022.[1]
A virtual ship crosses Dalí-inspired landscapes
The Dalivers: Dalí’s Virtual Universe section places participants aboard a virtual ship travelling through landscapes inspired by the artist’s imagery. They can interact with elements around them during the journey. In Surrealism Boulevard, visitors colour illustrations based on Dalí’s designs and bring those drawings into digital animation. The two activities give participants different ways to interact with the images presented inside the exhibition.[1]
The Immersive Experience Room extends images over walls and the floor in a 360-degree presentation. Another room uses high-resolution screens and an installation devoted to DNA’s double helix and the transmission of genetic information. Kültür AŞ museums director Reha Öztunalı said preparations had renewed the centre’s spatial arrangement and expanded its virtual-reality capacity.[1]
Archive films and Ara Güler’s photographs join the display
The Cinema Room draws on Jack Bond’s 1965 documentary Dalí in New York and Albert and David Maysles’s 1966 Dalí’s Fantastic Dream. Its film addresses Dalí’s life and approach to art. Alongside the digitally constructed environments, the cinema programme uses archival moving images of the artist.[1]
Istanbul’s presentation also includes photographs Ara Güler took during his visit to Dalí in 1971. Selected from the Ara Güler Archive and Research Centre collection, they show the artist and his working environment. The photographs and archive films sit alongside the exhibition’s virtual landscapes, interactive drawings and science-related installations.[1]
