Virtual and Interactive – Art Meets Digital Innovation

An artist dies before he can show his work to the world. Posthumously, his art travels around the world. Maori in New Zealand, students in Uganda, scientists at a symposium in San Francisco, even managers at a conference in Vienna are fascinated by his paintings. And again and again the question: What interested and inspired this artist?

The artist’s name is OUBEY. And the question of the sources of his inspiration is answered by a virtual experience space: the OUBEY MINDSPACE. In an interactive, playful way, visitors can discover what inspired and excited this artist—from astrophysics, space travel, and science fiction to philosophy, evolutionary history, and poetry to music, film art, and the world of comics. Through immersive narratives, visual content, and personal insights, visitors can get to know OUBEY’s world of ideas and understand the interdisciplinary connections that are expressed in his art.

The experiential journey takes place on two monitors—a large screen on which thoughts come to life in colorful images, accompanied by soundscapes, pieces of music, and sounds. And a touchscreen in front of it, where everyone can freely choose which of the six atmospherically completely different rooms they would like to visit first. Once in one of the rooms, further worlds open up, which can be accessed by clicking on a point. There are also artifacts from the artist’s everyday life and some background stories are told.

The artifacts can be found by clicking on small hidden Polaroid photos. Once all twelve have been found, a link to an OUBEY MINDSPACE playlist on Spotify opens. It contains all the music tracks from MINDSPACE in full length, as well as many other tracks by musicians, composers, and singers who were of special significance to OUBEY.

This is the first time I have presented OUBEY MINDSPACE to the public in this way. Since its premiere at the ZKM Karlsruhe in March, it has been available to people all over the world free of charge on the internet. More than a million people have visited it online since then. Now, for the first time, I can experience the immediate response of other people to this innovative form of presentation. For me, this is just as intense an experience as visiting OUBEY MINDSPACE is for guests.

“For us, it was an adventure to digitally reinvent OUBEYs world,” said Ole Leifels from Kubikfoto³, the team that worked with me for two years to design and then produce OUBEY MINDSPACE. Incidentally, they were recently awarded the coveted Red Dot Design Award for this. He added: “The MINDSPACE shows that technology doesn’t have to be cold. It can be moving, arouse curiosity, and build bridges between art, science, and the public.” All guests of the Kulturbeutel who have visited the OUBEY MINDSPACE have confirmed that this is the case.

This year, the Kulturbeutel Festival in Speyer’s Old Town Hall is offering its guests the OUBEY MINDSPACE as a surprise outside the official program. This unique experience space is hidden behind a black curtain at the entrance to the theater. Anyone can visit it every day between 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and admission is free.

The OUBEY MINDSPACE’s guest appearance in Speyer ends on Sunday, October 12, at 7:30 p.m.

_________________________________________________________________________________

WOCHENBLATT SPEYER, October 6, 2025