Faculty of Arts & Science

Digital Futures

Ryan Boyd

Altar of Pandora - VR Sculpture

Altar of Pandora is a virtual reality-based kinetic sculpture created using Blender & Unity. The virtual exhibition experience consists of a surreal, Hellenistic shrine that houses a marble sculpture of a woman, holding a staff and reaching towards a large cube. Shards of glass rotate around the sculpture that reveal hidden elements at certain angles. The user can navigate the space and investigate the sculpture from 360 degrees in virtual reality.Pandora was conceived by Hephaestus, the god of fire, who breathed her into existence. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gave her language and named her Pandora. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, gave her the ability to feel deep emotions. Athena, the goddess of war, gave her the gift of creativity. Zeus, the god of thunder and the leader of the pantheon, gave her curiosity and a large box that she was never allowed to open. As ironic as this last gift was, it was made to be her undoing. One day she became so curious about what was inside that she decided to open it. What Zeus had hidden in the box was all the evil creatures in the world, which she let loose upon the world by opening her box. After all the monsters had left the box, a ray of light shone from it, bestowing hope upon the world in the wake of chaos.

“I wanted to create a sculpture that embodies this myth in a way that explores mystery, secrets revealed, and hope in the wake of destruction. I explored these themes by creating a figure of Pandora in a white flowing dress and long windswept hair, with one outstretched arm to Pandora’s box, a cube floating in the air, barely touching it. The other hand holds a staff with an icosahedron, a shape discovered by Pythagoras representing the element of water, which is considered to be an archetype of femininity. She is blindfolded to represent her ignorance of what is inside the box. Surrounding her are floating, rotating shards of glass, representing the idea that what is done cannot be undone- in her case, the opening of the box. As these shards of glass rotate, unseen aspects of the piece become visible. Through the glass, the viewer is able to see that the box is glowing with an esoteric pattern- representing its mysterious power, and how it still contains hope. Pandora’s hair contains the image of a galaxy, representing her divine origins. Finally, Pandora’s staff reveals three rotating coloured lights, representing Emotion, Creativity, and Curiosity, bestowed upon her by the gods. Try out the experience by downloading the project from this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HvLpg5TKK4kHHpRej6b1BZmM9s64DUb4?usp=sharing ”