This VR exhibition takes you to the hedonistic heart of acid house – The Face

A couple of years ago, Emerson released Common Ground, aVR documentary about the Aylesbury Estate in south London, which impressed curators from Coventry City of Culture. They got in touch to commission him to do apiece on the citys acid rave scene, which up until now had been heavily overlooked in many documentaries and books about that era.

And so Emerson dove in headfirst, getting in touch with old school promoters, sound system owners, rave attenders and even police officers to get their take on what the acid house days in Coventry were really like. Its really nice to have those West Midlands voices, he says. And yeah, alot of police resources went towards breaking up parties where people were just hugging each other.

Back then, the Coventry area was big on football and, as aresult, football hooliganism and violence. In many ways, the birth of acid house brought much of that violence to agrinding halt, as pissed-up football fans turned to ecstasy and party planning. Inter-city rivalry, these networks who used to fight under the radar of police, suddenly switched, Emerson says.

You needed sound systems from one place, generators from another. You needed to find awarehouse, get flyers out. Suddenly, aviolent network became something that was able to beautifully promote and put on aparty. And for this purpose, VR is more conducive to properly capturing the euphoria and unbridled hedonism of raving in general, compared to looking at photographs pinned to awall.

To me, the technology is in service to the narrative, he continues. Ironically, its in place to take you back and connect you to these humanistic sensibilities, building aworld that feels textured and real so people feel comfortable in it.

One person left In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats moved to tears. Others came out buzzing, ready to pick up the phone and get some old mates back together. Beyond the giddy nostalgia Emersons exhibition has evoked so far, hes convinced the DIY spirit of acid house has carried over to contemporary rave culture.

Raves are organised on Telegram now, which is the new flyer or phone box. Theres something about abit of civil disobedience, about feeling like you have ownership over something, he says. The society we live in is quite hard in terms of feeling connected to people. When youre out raving, youre loved up, you can see the world from adifferent perspective. Theres adeeper meaning to it all which isnt all about the Tory government and taxes.

In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats opens today at The Box in Coventry. Click here to book tickets

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This VR exhibition takes you to the hedonistic heart of acid house - The Face