The task: to transfer a work of contemporary art into the digital world, emphasizing the main idea of ​​the artist with the help of game mechanics.

The World Islands are man-made islands in Dubai. Some of it is empty, ownerless, and some is built up and... also empty.

Everything around is artificial. Nearby, corals are grown to populate the sterile bottom. And in the alleys between the hotels there is artificial rain. There are shops, but they don’t work, there are hotels, but no one lives there. You feel like you're in a digital simulation!

This place was ideal for placing an installation by Italian artist, Filippo Minelli.

“The Idealized City” is a research project, the result of the artist’s study of the local culture and urban features of the region.

The title refers to the “Ideal City” by humanist Leon Battista Alberti. In his teaching, the ideal city is a structured architecture for different segments of the population, and a person is identified through the surrounding landscape.

In the modern world, people move from place to place, and architecture ceases to play a key role in the formation of identity. This practice refers to the heritage of Bedouin traditions and nomadism. Therefore, the visual language of the project is the format of renderings and stock images, a symbol of constant transformation and movement towards the ideal.

It’s ironic that the artist’s work looks like an element from the Metaverse: digital and exaggerated. It's like you forgot to take off your augmented reality glasses.

Therefore, the second stage of the project was to transfer the installation to the digital world. In the metaverse, online viewers can participate in the creation of art themselves and inflate elements of the installation using pumps.

Inside the virtual world, you can watch a film about the creation of the work and ride on a vehicle with balloons with landmarks attached to it. The latter is a reference to the multinationality of the city of Dubai.

Tours regularly take place in the space.

More +