Mark Sheerin

Here I look like I've stepped into a ZX Spectrum game, specifically, this ZX Spectrum game. Tir na Nog..

Vietnom Dining our way round the Land of the Rising Dragon

If you like travel (armchair or economy class), perhaps you will like my substack. Here's a new post, about Vietnamese streetfood

Dutch sand artist draws images on Walton-on-the-Naze beach Gert-Jan Van Der Kooij uses virtual reality goggles and a rake for his drawings on the Essex beach.

Unusual use of VR buried here under some sand

Superstar content provider A.R. Rahman and an immersive brand experience at the O2

You're never too big to look this small. We saw A.R. Rahman at the O2.

A black female artist works constructing sculptures made by wrapping coloured material around into large objects

From the margins to the UK's biggest art prize: @criticismism.bsky.social reflects on the significance and brilliance of Nnena Kalu’s Turner Prize exhibition.

disabilityarts.online/magazine/rev...

Palatial waters Drinking in the lakeside charms of Udaipur in India

Travel notes from Rajasthan

Weaving Memory: Dhaqan Collective on The Aqal (House of Weaving Songs) - ART AFRICA Magazine In conversation with Somali artists Ayan Cilmi and Fozia Ismail, art writer Mark Sheerin explores a travelling home for nomadic culture, community, and song. Dhaqan Collective, House of Weaving Songs,...

I also made it to Blackburn, for British Textile Biennial 2025, to immerse myself in a nomadic home for Somali musical culture

Review - Nnena Kalu’s Turner Prize exhibition: resplendent in the pleasures of process ActionSpace artist, Nnena Kalu has made a splash by being nominated for the 2025 Turner Prize as a learning-disabled artist. Mark Sheerin reflects on the significance and brilliance of her Turner Priz...

I've given an account of Nnena Kalu's remarkable and hopeful showing at Cartwright Hall, Bradford, in this year's Turner Prize

Tunnels in Vietnam Our history lesson on, and under, the ground

Detail from a drawing seen in Hanoi over summer. We also did the Ben Duoc tunnel experience, which I'd recommend training for! Anyhow, I've written about the war, the VC and the present in Vietnam, a remarkable land.

Five wanderers above the sea of fog A family trip to the cloudy Himalayas

If you've ever wondered what it might be like to go to Sikkim, read on:

Three people stand within the centre of an 180-degree screen-based installation which has the projected image of three deaf performers on it

Deaf Heritage takes centre stage in @cathymager.bsky.social’s work, Finger Talk at Wellcome Collection.

Read @criticismism.bsky.social's review ↓
disabilityarts.online/magazine/rev...

Folkestone Triennial 2025 - landscape, seascape, art lovers' escape A rare cloud form envelopes the headland and to the east and the west Folkestone is cut off from the known world. This mist shortens the visual range, drawing attention to the chalky soil, the sea gor...

★★★★ #FolkestoneTriennial 2025 - Landscape, seascape, art lovers' escape: this locally rooted festival brings home many but not all global concerns, says Mark Sheerin @criticismism.bsky.social #CreativeFolkestone theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/...

A strange, sad and mildly shocking tale from a cave in Goa

I've written an account of the Barbican's VR rave experience: I hope my review is the next best thing to the next best thing to being there back in the day.

Have We Reached the XR Tipping Point? High-quality devices are now powerful and affordable enough to enable truly compelling experiences

Something Mother Shipton might not have predicted, XR industry set to double in value over next three years. Same upward trajectory as Immersive Experiences.

North Yorkshire cave and 'unique' well are England's oldest tourist attractions 'Magical' Mother Shipton's Cave and 'unique' Petrifying Well in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, are England's oldest tourist attractions.

Prophetess Mother Shipton had a pretty badass start in life: born, during a thunderstorm, in a cave.

From niche to a billion pound industry: How immersive events have taken over Despite times being financially tough post-pandemic, the continued popularity of experience events could indicate consumers are being a little more choosy about what they spend their hard-earned wages...

Immersive experiences offer developers a 'gold rush'. These numbers are amazing.

Over 100 prehistoric structures discovered in Spanish cave Over 100 prehistoric structures discovered in Spanish cave

Word of the day: 'speleofact' - a (usually small) structure made out of broken stalactites and stalagmites

BRADFORD CITY OF CULTURE 2025 - Changes in a landscape, assessed by Mark Sheerin @criticismism.bsky.social as he catches art in all forms @bradford2025.bsky.social, encountering the #Brontes #TSEliot @davidhockney.bsky.social & contemporaries, local and visiting www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/...

Meta and Anduril are now jointly developing XR headsets for the US military Palmer Luckey’s defense company Anduril Industries and Meta are collaborating on the development of XR products for the US military.

So much urgency, energy, money, and expertise ploughed into the next wave of XR for military use. Sickening really

Virtual death camp and script approval process offers 'authenticity' to fictions set in Auschwitz.

I was raised in an underground cave! Bethany Mantle spent her childhood living in a cave underground to escape the the scorching heat. Then she uncovered a whole new world...

From feral childhood to aspirational mumboss: this story from Woman's Day is so weird and normative of cave life!

The Cave Diver blends the joyful physics of QWOP with the less joyful physics of being trapped underground They call it the worst way to die. What a perfect premise for a 2D exploration game.

Creepy trailer just dropped for the autumn release of a 2D cave exploration game in which perishing undergound is all part of the fun. Amusing write up here from a PC gaming site.

Number of caves discovered under Nottingham passes 900 Scott Lomax, the city council's archaeologist, says some homeowners turn them into cinema rooms.

It's the go to city for limestone beer cellars, games rooms or subterranean cinemas. At least the potential is there

He is completely clueless about what he is doing.

Sussex folk and adventurous Londoners, you have until June 1 to catch the Michelle Roberts show at DLWP. My review below:

First look: This immersive 6-acre art installation in Manhattan explores liberty and equality Find this free outdoor art experience on Manhattan's East side.

Haven't we heard enough about liberty at this point? While inclusive, this huge US immersive art show looks problematic

Congrats, and good luck!

Cave-diving conference in Florida The 2025 International Cave Diving Conference is set to take place in High Springs, Alachua in the heart of north Florida’s freshwater springs cave-diving

Thought that fear of public speaking was the number one risk at a conference. But no, they have a conference specially for cave diving.

Chopped-up human remains in Guatemala’s ‘blood cave’ reveal ancient Maya sacrificial rituals Archaeologists uncover Maya ritual sacrifices in Guatemala’s Cueva de Sangre, revealing ancient practices to appease the rain god Chaac.

Human sacrifice as 'performative ritual'. Does this blood cave hint at the origins of performance art!!?