On March 13th, 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville, Kentucky police officers while serving a “no-knock warrant.”
We still demand justice and healing!
Last year, in solidarity with Breonna Taylor’s family, artist and curator Lady Pheønix developed Breonna’s Garden, a revolutionary framework for veneration through augmented reality (AR). Now, less than a full year later, the project is providing virtual safe spaces to larger audiences through fully immersive VR. The development of the project began after Lady Pheønix learned that Ju’Niyah Palmer, (Breonna’s younger sister) was receiving death threats while publicly grieving her sister’s murder on Instagram. After speaking with Ju’Niyah, it was apparent that she not only needed a safe space to process her grief; but so did entire online communities that supported Breonna.
The Garden has evolved from a healing tool for Ju’Niyah and her family into a healing tool for the nation. It’s a sanctuary where Breonna’s name can be said without negation. Following successes at Tribeca Film Festival, the Perez Art Museum Miami, the Augmented World Expo where Breonna’s Garden won Best Societal Impact Award, as a PGA finalist, and nominee for both an Aurea Top 50 award in immersive entertainment and Unity Award for Best Social Impact, Breonna’s Garden blossoms in Austin.
SXSW is an opportunity to introduce Breonna’s Garden to international audiences at the intersection of art, tech, social justice, education, entertainment, film, gaming, and more. Audiences are transported to a very special place; a rare one-of-one exhibition specifically curated for SXSW where they’re enmeshed in the heart and mind of Breonna’s loved ones. This special place is a room inside the family’s home filled with mementos and portraits of Breonna, all of which honor her life. The new VR and volumetric content marks the beginning of an innovative approach to storytelling in AltspaceVR that has never been seen before. In situ, audiences hear stories about Breonna’s passion for helping others and have the chance to read heart-felt letters from supporters from all over the world.
Now, more than ever, authentic vulnerability feels paramount to collective reconciliation. Breonna’s Garden is an artistic model of transformative justice. The framework applied here comes from scholar Mia Mingus who defines Transformative Justice (TJ) as “a political framework and approach for responding to violence, harm and abuse. Transformative Justice can be thought of as a way of ‘making things right,’ getting in ‘right relation,’ or creating justice together.” The Garden seeks to align Breonna with her purpose instead of her pain. Healing in this context is the most revolutionary act to ensure that Justice– restorative justice, energetic justice and spiritual justice are not held up with procedural and retributive justice.
Lady Pheønix notes that the intention of Breonna’s Garden is to keep the legacy of Breonna Taylor in Bloom. She remarked, “I trust that audiences will connect with the greater truth, that Breonna deserves justice. I hope this experience softens hearts and that audiences are receptive to the massive amount of love present in such a way that they stand in solidarity heart to heart with Breonna’s family and the rest of the globe.”Breonna’s Garden was created in partnership with a number of creatives who lovingly volunteered their time. Legendary Australian artist Sutu led the project as its art and technical director, volumetric capture was provided by Metastage and Microsoft, audio by Ecco VR, Brenda Chen supported as the technical artist, Sound design was provided by composer Jake Steele, Character Design by Candie Quach, Rigging and Animation by JC Leon, Content Moderation by XR Safety Initiative, with additional support provided by Unity. Breonna’s Garden invites those who would like to experience the original AR version ahead of SXSW to download the app here. Now is the perfect time to say her name, louder.
About Lady Pheønix – Creator, Executive Producer and Director
Lady Pheønix is the leading voice for contemporary digital art and culture, providing an essential platform for the art and artists of our time. As a passionate producer of creative works at the intersection of art and technology she develops engaging narratives with universal impact to drive social change. She organized the landmark exhibition Proof of Sovereignty, Christie’s first curated NFT auction. She is a guest lecturer at Harvard where she teaches the foundations of cryptomedia. Lady Pheønix is the founder and ceo of YESUNIVERSE an award-winning production studio and Universe Contemporary, the premier art and cryptomedia advisory elevating culture in the metaverse. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Freedom Dream in the Open Metaverse.
About Sutu – Artistic and Technical Director
Sutu (aka Stuart Campbell) is an Eisner-nominated, Gold Ledger, and Webby Award-winning artist and director whose life is devoted to social impact, and pioneering new kinds of digital experiences. Art and technology have been merged in his creative practice. Now a leading creator in digital interactive storytelling for mobile, AR and VR. Sutu holds an Honorary Doctorate of Digital Media from Central Queensland University, and is a Sundance and Tribeca Fellow. In 2016, he partnered with AR pioneer Lukasz Karluk to co-found the groundbreaking augmented reality studio and platform, EyeJack which is supporting this project.
About Joanna Popper – Executive Producer
Joanna Popper is an award-winning Hollywood and Silicon Valley media executive. She leads HP’s XR initiatives for Go-To-Market. Prior she was EVP of Media & Marketing at Singularity University and VP Marketing at NBCUniversal. Joanna executive produced Double Eye Studios’ “Finding Pandora X,” Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Best VR Experience and the SXSW Audience Award Virtual Cinema Spotlight. Finding Pandora X is a modern Greek mythology live interactive experience in VRChat. She was selected as “50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment,” “Top 50 Original Thinkers in VR,” “Top Women in Media: Game Changers,” “Top Women in Media: Industry Leaders,” “Digital It List,” “101 Women Leading the VR Industry” and is on the Coalition for the Women in XR Fund.
About Big Rock Creative
Big Rock Creative who produced BRCvr, an official virtual Burning Man experience, evolved out of the canceled week-long on-playa event that would have welcomed 80,000 participants IRL. As a result, Big Rock Creative launched a groundbreaking virtual reality environment comprising 200 unique worlds visited with over 90,000 user joins in seven days. An event that went on to win multiple prestigious awards including the Producers Guild of America’s Innovation Award, the Aurea Award for Creativity, the No Proscenium Audience Choice Award for Best VR Experience and the Hermes Creativity Award. Big Rock Creative has transformed the way people meet, connect, and engage across the globe. Since early 2020, Big Rock has produced, managed and moderated over 100 events across multiple virtual platforms, with the majority taking place in AltspaceVR, for large corporations including Microsoft, Burning Man, the United Nations, and Baobab Studios.
About Doug Jacobson – Artistic and Technical Director for VR
Doug has been in the film industry since he graduated from USC film school in the 90s. Over the course of his career he has written, directed and edited several festival award-winning narratives and documentaries. Out of film school, Doug began documenting the Los Angeles underground scene of the 90’s, which led to attending Burning Man in 1998. The insanely visual environment inspired Doug to begin photographing and filming Black Rock City and related events. Soon he became active in the LA regional community and a camp leader. Eventually, he made the classic Burning Man documentary “Journey to the Flames” which has sold and been screened both
nationally and internationally. Doug is also one of the camp leaders of the “Black Rock Yearbook,” arguably one of the largest and longest-running photography projects in Burning Man history. Every year, he produces the Yearbook – a photo book filled with thousands of individual Black Rock City Participants, group camp photos and art. A lover of technology and new ways of storytelling, Doug has been spending time in VR – shooting 3D video and helping build and guide other users through Alternative realities in digital space.
SXSW
Congressional Ballroom
Booth #106
March 13-15, 2022 | 11:00am-6:00pm
Schedule: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2022/films/2054475
Media Inquiries:
Hijinx PR, Heidi Johnson
Email: heidi@hijinxarts.com
Phone: 323.204.7246
Source / Credit: Breonna’s Garden
