Life Without Matter considers a future life in virtual reality where material things - physical matter - have mostly disappeared and our identity must be redefined.
Within the virtual world we find ourselves in a mythic place. A mirror appears and the viewer confronts their digital reflection. And since a virtual world is immaterial, a virtual mirror need not reflect one’s physical appearance, but rather the female, male and animal in all of us.
While the viewer is interacting with their virtual reflection, their shadow is projected on a special screen in the exhibition space, revealing their actions to the audience. This presents two components to the art experience; the intimate, self-reflective experience in the virtual world and the projected, public experience via the shadow screen.
This artwork goes beyond the solely visual aspect of perception to engage the viewer in a multi-sensory experience that affects the whole body, evoking core questions about human identity. Meanwhile, the audience, like the prisoners in Plato’s Cave, can only see this world as shadows as they eagerly await entry into a world without matter.
Commissioned by QUAD Gallery, Arts Council England and Derby City Council.

Rebecca Allen is an internationally recognised artist inspired by the aesthetics of motion, the study of behaviour, and advanced technology's potential. For over thirty years, her groundbreaking work has pushed the boundaries of art and creative expression in experimental video, virtual and augmented reality, large-scale performance and interactive art.

Rebecca moves fluidly between the artist studio and research lab as her research informs her art. She is a professor of Media Arts at UCLA and was the founding chair of her department. Her current work in virtual reality involves the mysteries of human perception and is linked to research in neuroscience.

Allen’s artwork is commissioned and exhibited internationally. It is part of the permanent collection of Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Whitney Museum and Museum of Modern Art in New York. Past collaborators include artists such as Kraftwerk, Mark Mothersbaugh, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Peter Gabriel, Carter Burwell, Twyla Tharp, La Fura dels Baus and Nam June Paik.