BOM commissioned Beholder, a powerful virtual reality experience exploring beauty through an autistic lens. The project brought together autistic artist Sonja Zelic, who is situationally mute, and renowned immersive artists United Visual Artists (UVA), to collaboratively craft a poetic sensory journey into autistic perception.
What We Did
The goal was to create an immersive experience that reframed autism not as a deficit but as a space of beauty, wonder, and detailed perception. To do this, we:
– Commissioned Sonja Zelic to share her perspective and shape the core creative direction
– Developed a VR experience that captures the fascination of a bird in flight, slow, detailed, immersive
– Supported Sonja to produce a companion audio artwork, Dream of a Safe Space, to extend the narrative and deepen the emotional connection
Together, the pieces offer a striking meditation on perception, safety, and the quiet beauty of neurodiversity.
Impact
Beholder won a £20,000 Creative XR award from Digital Catapult and was nominated for the prestigious European Media Arts Prize by ST+Arts. It has exhibited internationally at venues including Ars Electronica (Austria) and the National Museum of Canada in Quebec, resonating with global audiences and redefining how autistic perspectives can be experienced.
ServicesVirtual Reality (VR) Production Artistic Commissioning Creative Collaboration
