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The IMMERSION Lab is a combination of a virtual reality creation residency and an invitation for artists to engage the racial history of America within the context of a southern city: Wilmington, North Carolina. Through this residency, artists will be supported to develop and execute a 360 video project, collaborate with other residents on production, live well in community, and learn about Wilmington’s racial history and how it shapes the present. Bringing multiple meanings of immersion together, this residency is an opportunity to dive deep and put critical thinking into practice through immersive media projects.
Building on the belief that meaningful work is born out of a deep sensitivity for the context from which it emerges, we will immerse ourselves on every level. We will build group rapport through collective agreements, embodied workshops, intimate collaboration and co-mentorship of creative processes. We will engage the history of Wilmington through curated film screenings, local tours, conversations and readings, allowing our research to inform our projects and process. The tools of virtual reality have created a new space of exploration for the vanguard of immersive media and performance. The IMMERSION program asks: How do we root our virtual realities within the political and social realities from which they emerge? How do we resist the escapist trends of immersive media and deepen our relationship to place and to each other through immersion? What layers of historical, cultural, colonial, oppressive, personal and social fabrics map onto our movements in a space? How might we engage these realities actually, and virtually? And, as technologies evolve, how do artists adapt?
Pieces created at the residency will be exhibited at the VR Salon at the Cucalorus Festival in November 2025. Residents will be encouraged to return to Wilmington for the festival to participate as exhibiting artists.We are seeking participants who have capacity to engage in an intensive production schedule, interest in developing skills and familiarity with immersive media and 360 video, and a desire to do anti-racist work within media production. Prior experience with 360° cameras and technology will not be required. Session participants will have access to 360° video capture cameras, training in how to use these cameras, as well as technical support during the filming and editing process.Please note that IMMERSION 6.0 has access to limited computer workstations, and participants should be prepared to work from their own laptop and hard drives if they have access to them.This residency is made possible through a partnership between Cucalorus Film Foundation and The School of Making Thinking, through sponsorships from Pomp&Clout and Toasterlab, and through a Media Arts Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
clayton scofield is an intermedia artist and poet whose multimedia work explores themes of transformation and in-betweenness. Their practice incorporates poetic narrative, performance, and moving image. Slippage and illegibility function in their work to allow forms their own becoming. A word repeated across contexts can become malleable material accumulating various meanings. Inspired by Jill Johnston’s definition of intermedia, articulated as, “Re-integration. The everything as everything. The organism as totally illegal. The legality of nothing but pleasure,” clay commits to DIY queer aesthetics through intimacy with everyday materials.Their work has been featured in various publications and exhibitions, and they hold MFAs in digital art (Indiana University, Bloomington) and poetry (the Iowa Writers’ Workshop). They are also actively involved in facilitating artist residencies and collaborative writing projects.
Remi Harris is a NYC-based creative producer, performer, choreographer, facilitator, curator, and arts leader. Her dynamic career spans collaborations across stage, film, rooftops, demonstrations, and ice-skating rinks. Rooted in the legacy of her mentors and driven by a love for movement, her work emphasizes inclusive community-building and meaningful connections.As a performer, she has worked with Sydnie L. Mosley Dances, Keigwin + Company, Olek, and Okwui Okpokwasili, among others. Her choreography has been presented at venues such as Abrons Art Center, Danspace Project, and Spectrum Dance Theater, as well as site-specific activations across the U.S.As a producer, Remi contributes to projects incorporating cultural histories and immersive technologies. She curates interdisciplinary programs, designs residencies, and champions diverse voices. Born in Barbados and raised in Brooklyn, her work reflects a deep connection to her roots and a passion for collaboration. www.remitharris.com
