Internity (Intern Purgatory)

Cat Bluemke, Jonathan Carroll, and Iain Soder as Tough Guy Mountain collective

2020 – 2024
Virtual reality for mobile, headsets, and desktop

Exhibition view of Internity at Claremont Project Space, Toronto, with VR headsets and projected interface.
Exhibition view, Claremont Project Space, Toronto, June 2024.

Entering a sterile, corporate space, the user is led through a wellness exercise only to find themselves in an orientation for an unpaid internship. The work resembles, in some ways, the virtual reality genre of office simulation, in which users immerse themselves in detailed digital recreations of mundane environments as a reassuring form of entertainment, but weaves instead a paranoid tale of corporate control and biohacking.

Intern Purgatory was completed with funds from Rhizome's Mobile VR microgrant and is available for viewing on the First Look: Artists' VR app at the New Museum, powered by EEVO.

Screenshot of the desktop version of Intern Purgatory showing the iPhone-Bop-it style interface on the left.
Desktop-compatible adaptation of Intern Purgatory, 2024. The iPhone-Bop-it interface (left) was adapted from VR to enable desktop controls for navigating the branching narrative and character interactions.
In-game screen capture showing the iPhone-Bop-it style narrative control system in the 2024 headset and desktop edition.
In-game footage, 2024 headset and desktop edition, demonstrating narrative navigation through the iPhone-Bop-it style control system.
Promotional gameplay footage from the 2020 VR for mobile edition of Intern Purgatory.
Promotional gameplay footage from the 2020 VR for mobile edition.
Live performance of Internity at Apocablyss studios, Montreal.
Live performance, Apocablyss Studios, Montreal, February 2024.
Live performance of Internity at Claremont Project Space, Toronto.
Live performance, Claremont Project Space, Toronto, June 2024.