Special Exhibition — WESON MUSEUM
ARTLINK
New connections between art and people, opened by VR
Connecting art, people, and spaces
ARTLINK is a group VR art exhibition hosted on WESON MUSEUM. Held several times a year, it aims to create new connections between art and those who have had little opportunity to encounter it.
About ARTLINK
ARTLINK is not simply a venue for digital exhibition. Set in the VR spaces cultivated by WESON MUSEUM, it is a program where artists gather, display work, engage in dialogue, and share space with audiences.
We do not think of "exhibiting" as merely hanging work on a wall. Artists and viewers stand in the same place, words emerge, and those words lead to the next relationship — ARTLINK continues as a program to cultivate exactly that kind of space.
Lowering the threshold of viewing, widening access to art — these questions, approached through the technology of VR, form the basic stance of this exhibition.
There is value in
the accidental
encounter
In Japan, art is sometimes received as a culture slightly removed from everyday life. "Museums feel intimidating." "I don't know how to look at works." These feelings are not uncommon.
Entering a VR space requires no special preparation, no prior knowledge. Someone invited by a friend, or someone who wandered in — when they find themselves standing in front of a work by chance, that can become their first point of contact with art.
Many people who attend the weekly Saturday tours are those who rarely visit art museums, or who don't know how to talk about works. Even so, what they feel in front of a work, and the words they exchange with an artist, remain as something real.
Lowering the threshold of access is not about making art "easier". It is about widening the door, so that more people have the opportunity to encounter the depth of art.
What ARTLINK connects
- 01
Art and those yet to encounter it
美術と、まだ出会っていない人
People who don't usually go to museums, who don't know how to look at works — when they wander into a VR space and stop in front of a work, that chance encounter is something ARTLINK values.
- 02
Works and dialogue
作品と、対話の時間
At the weekly Saturday tours, the artist joins the space in person and talks with visitors. Being able to hear directly about the work makes the experience of viewing deeper and more personal.
- 03
Artists and new audiences
作家と、新しい鑑賞者
Through the VR channel, artists encounter audiences they couldn't reach before. Even artists unfamiliar with technology have found, through continued exhibition, that fans emerge from unexpected places.
- 04
Virtual encounters, real movements
バーチャルでの出会いが、リアルを動かす
Viewers who first encountered an artist through VR have gone on to attend their physical exhibitions. A connection in virtual space can become a door to real-world action and ongoing relationships.
Relationship with
WESON MUSEUM
WESON MUSEUM is a permanent art museum built in VRChat. Four spaces — Sky, Forest, Palau, Rain — each with its own atmosphere, remain open at all times.
ARTLINK is the "program" that makes use of that "place". Because WESON MUSEUM exists, ARTLINK can be held continuously. And because ARTLINK is held, WESON MUSEUM becomes known to more people, and the permanent exhibitions are seen with fresh eyes.
A relationship in which place and program nurture each other — ARTLINK moves as one with WESON MUSEUM.
Widening the
reach of art
One of the goals of ARTLINK is to widen the reach of art.
To create connections between those who have rarely had the opportunity to encounter art, and artists who want more people to see their work. To create points of contact between people and places that have seldom intersected. From those points of contact, new discoveries and relationships emerge — and we believe in that.
VR is a means, not an end. What we want to hold onto does not change, even as technology changes — that art exists a little closer to the daily lives of more people.
Archive
These are the exhibition records from past editions of ARTLINK. See the year-by-year pages for details.
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