Virtual Gap Year is a collaboration between PITCH STUDIOS™ and IAM exploring IAM Weekend’s theme: The Quantumness of Archipelagos. visual artists located worldwide were invited to collaborate with the studio and create an experimental short CGI film exploring the future of the internet and it’s post-technological future(s).

the project was presented as the opening title sequence of the festival, teased as part of the festival’s marketing campaign and set the overall visual tone.

we chose to use the idea of a ‘virtual gap year’ as a meta-narrative for the project, presenting IAM Weekend’s key themes through the lens of an island-hopping, sun-chasing sabbatical. although gap years are often viewed (by those fortunate enough) as a tool to reimagine our individual futures, they originated in the 1960s as a way of fostering cultural understanding. we thought this was an interesting idea to play with.

the film was screened at IAM Weekend 19 (Barcelona), Google Arts + Culture (London) and Semi Permanent (Sydney).