Stuart Semple remembers well the first time that art pushed him to his stomach. It was late 1980s, and Semple, then eight years old was at London's National Gallery. He was there to meet Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers. It seemed like the painting was floating above the wall. My system was completely overwhelmed by it. He said that my mum told me I was shaking. It was a state I would describe as awe.
Semple has been obsessed with making this museum experience accessible to all since then. Semple even knows where it should be built. He believes that the internet is one of our most powerful public spaces. It is a powerful public space, he says. I have always believed it would be an art platform that made art more accessible to all. In the age before dial-up internet, Semple created his first virtual gallery with Flash. It was almost impossible to use due to limited internet access and slow load times. Semple ended the project, but he didn't stop dreaming about the virtual museum of tomorrow.
Semple was not the only one thinking about online exhibits by 2020. Covid-19 lockdowns meant that shows and fairs all over the globe went online. Popular platforms such as Kunstmatrix started hosting Art Basel, The Other Art Fair and other art fairs. The blockchain was flooded with art in the form non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. It was a turning point. Although galleries and museums have been working together to share art online for a long time, the consensus was that it was not a good substitute for seeing a piece of art in person. KV Duong, an artist who organized his first online exhibition last year, believes art should be seen in person. Art lovers love to feel the physical space, see the texture, smell and interact with the artworks. The biggest mark for museums is community engagement. I don't know if that can be achieved in a virtual space.
Semple formed a team in March last year. The group was funded by Semple and covered art, curation architecture, technology, and more. Their goal? VOMA, the fully online museum he had envisioned for so many years. Semples vision became a virtual reality in half an year. It is free to all who wish to visit. The museum's flexible architecture allows for two large galleries, an outdoor sculpture pavilion and an artist space to perform pieces. This is just the beginning of an endlessly expanding museum. It was created using Unreal Engine video game software. You can view it on any device that has a web browser.
Semple says that you can do almost anything. We don't need to ship, move, or insure anything. We can make a gallery larger if it isn't large enough. To add a new floor, we don't need to get permission from the planning commission.
