Liminal Labyrinth, VR Experince, 2019

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Liminal Labyrinth is a collaboration between Eric Souther and Dr. Kevin Ladd. It is both a virtual and physical installation and a psychological look at the interaction of bodies and religious behaviors in digitally augmented spaces.

 

The Labyrinth works as a spiritual tool; nearly all religions have had some association with these winding patterns: Buddhist Mandalas, Native American Medicine Wheels, and Judaism “Tree of Life.” While the specific understandings and roles of these patterns differ across traditions, the labyrinth seems to be used as an aid in thinking about and understanding religion through embodied aesthetics.

 

Closely related to mazes, modern labyrinths typically are unicursal patterns. Instead of featuring multiple pathways and dead-ends common to mazes, the labyrinth has a single winding path leading toward a central open space and back out. Some argue that “sacred geometry” associated with labyrinths provides the ability to change the “energy” of the one who walks the pathway. These two projects are partially supported by Indiana University’s New Frontiers in the Arts & Humanities Program, Indiana University South Bend Faculty Research Grant, Squeaky Wheel's Workspace Residency, and the Buffalo Game Space.