MAGDALENA KOVARIK

URBAN EXPLORING 360 is an ongoing project in collaboration with Francisco Ramirez. In this VR documentary row we are exploring hidden and abandoned places in NYC. On the lookout for engaging and reasonable content for VR stories and 360 video we stumbled upon the Urban Exploring movement. This trend of discovering abandoned buildings like theaters or factories, investigating the underground system, sneaking on rooftops or climbing Williamsburg or Brooklyn Bridge got especially popular amongst adventurous New Yorkers. We want to reclaim our cities! Gaining access to the unaccessible. Discovering urban environments or opening cityscapes to a public that are usually only granted to the upper crust seems to be perfect to be shown in 360 video. After meeting two urban explorers we got hooked by the stories of adrenalin, freedom and secret places and decided to go under the explorers by ourselves.

Urban Exploring 360  is a VR documentary row shot with a GoPro Freedom 360 mounted on a bike helmet, as well as the more handy and unobtrusive Ricoh Theta. Stitched in AutoPano Pro, edited in Adobe Premiere. The ethics of Urban Exploring prohibit to name the explored places or to show how to access them. Only this ensure that they will stay secret and can be visited by the next explorers. Stay curious and word of mouth will lead you there. 

Urban Dictionary / Urban Exploration -  "The act of going places you're not supposed to go. Urban exploration acts as an umbrella phrase for other terms like infiltration, draining, buildering and other actions which take place in an urban setting.  Often the act of urban exploration is illegal, as trespassing is usually necessary. However, the majority of urban explorers do not intend to vandalize property. One of the cardinal rules of urban exploration is "Take only photographs, leave only footprints".