Curated and text by Ilija Prokopiev

Slanted Dreams is a virtual exhibition featuring two interactive installations: Where I Post From by Gjorgji Despodov and There are no real shortcuts by Klelija Zhivkovikj, designed by Borko Hadjievski.

When we use the word slanted to describe a dream, it almost sounds like an oxymoron. After all, aren’t all dreams slanted by nature? Isn’t there always something twisted within them, an odd curvature of time and space, a sudden shift from one room to another, from one place to another, a face that changes shape, a body that dissolves into air, gravity itself quietly forgotten?

Yes, every dream is slanted. And in those moments, we, too, become slanted beings, drawn intimately into that tilted world. It is there, in the dream’s subtle confusion, that we recognize something deeply personal: our own private inclination, our unique and secret way of seeing the world askew. The slanted dream mirrors the slanted self, both revealing how truth, perception, and memory bend and shimmer beneath the surface of waking life.

In this VR exhibition, we are offered the rare opportunity to step into two dream worlds, those of Klelija Zhivkovikj and Gjorgji Despodov. These are deeply personal universes, translated into virtual form, where you can walk through spaces, pick up objects, observe shifting details, and practically enter the slanted realities of other human beings.

“How intrusive,” one might think. “How daring, even impolite, to be granted access to someone else’s dreams, to their private, tilted world.” And yet, it is a beautiful kind of transgression. Not crude or voyeuristic, as one might fear, but tender and deliberate, a gesture of invitation. It’s like entering someone’s bedroom and finding the closet door left slightly ajar, not by accident, but as a subtle permission. You feel a flicker of shame at your own curiosity, yet you look, compelled by that human need to glimpse the secret order of another’s slateness.

Through this act, we recognize something quietly profound: that within every person lies a slanted world of their own, fragile, strange, and beautiful. By exploring another’s dream, we come a little closer to understanding the beauty hidden within our own.

The two virtual exhibition rooms give us a closer experience of this idea, the idea of exploring slanted worlds: theirs, and ultimately, ours. Each room becomes a threshold, a space between waking and dreaming, self and other. As we wander through these crafted realities, we begin to sense that the boundaries between “their” world and “our” world are not so rigid after all.

Artists’ statements on the works

Speaking about his own work, Where I Post From, Gjorgji Despodov says: "The maze keeps offering me clues, but I can’t tell if they’re leading me forward or simply showing me where I already am. It feels less like progress and more like being trapped in a loop. If only I could zoom out, see the layout from above, like a Google Maps top view, then I could avoid the dead ends. Instead, I’m left with the unsettling familiarity of a backroom. At one point, I come across a display case holding a miniature castle. It makes me pause. Is this where I’ve been posting from all along? Some details feel oddly familiar, though I can’t quite place the time period they belong to. As I continue through the corridors, I start picking up papers scattered along the way. They’re covered in strange illustrations. One shows a whimsical landscape, another is a poster of the very object I just encountered. None of it explains the maze, but it all feels like part of the same riddle. There are voices too, echoing faintly in the distance. They say something, but the meaning slips away before I can catch it. And then, finally, I spot an exit. Relief, almost. But it’s blocked. And just as that realization sinks in, a face appears before me. I can’t help but wonder, what will it say?" 

Klelija Zhivkovikj, speaking about her own work, There are no real shortcuts, says: “A horizon is not an edge, but a possibility. A line in which reality converges and threads across all of our unspoken longings. The horizon always maintains a distance - the more you approach it, the further it recedes. Backlit by the sunset to the west and swallowed by the night to the east, it carries the promise that beyond it lies a world where our deepest desires come true.

A horizon can help us speak of desire, of longing, without naming the subject of our desire, or even desire itself. The unreachability of the horizon makes for a resonant symbol for desire to a human body. 

Desire can help us speak of technology, without relying on the overused words and phrases that immediately lock our imagination in a feedback loop of tech bro podcast highlights. We can speak of the urges that move and shake us, of the euphoria of togetherness, or of the erotics of being revered.”

Instructions:

1. To explore and experience the Slanted Dreams exhibition of the new interactive VR Studio, download it from our PPVRStudio account on the itch.io platform. Click the download button in the right-hand upper corner.

2. The exhibition is made to be experienced only on your computer and not for your smart phone.

3. Download the exhibition file.

4. Use WASD on your keyboard to move around.

5. Use the Mouse to look around.

6. Press E to interact with the vehicle.

7. Press Alt+F4 to exit the exhibition.

PrivatePrint - VR Studio is a collaborative program for curating and designing virtual exhibitions. The program started with the idea of the architect and 3D designer Borko Hadjievski, one of the founders of PrivatePrint Studio and our long-time collaborator, who created the virtual model of our studio.

VR Studio 2025 is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia.