In 2008 the Vanity's own Sean Cochrane helped director Marco Brambilla take the world on a journey from Hell to Heaven. In 2011 they re-introduced viewers to the art installion, this time in full 3d.
 
Civilization 3d (Megaplex) premiered at this year's Flash:Light NYC within the historic walls of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. The piece interweaves nearly 500 looping video clips and has served as inspiration for several other pieces. The groundbreaking video installation creates an engrossing experience that echo's the church's stained glass window imagery.
 
Civilization was originally commissioned by the Standard Hotel in New York's Meat Packing District. The art can be seen in the hotel's elevators as guest ascend to higher floors.
 
If you missed Flash:Light NYC, you can see Civilization 3d (Megaplex) at the Santa Monica Museum of Art from May 21 - August 20, 2011. If you're in Toronto, you can come by and check it out on one of our 3d televisions.
 
Some reactions to Civilization 3d (Megaplex):

"Weaving hundreds of video clips pairing contemporary footage of current events and cultural icons with stunning animated effects, Civilization presents a boldly reinterpreted tableau of Dante’s ascension from Hell to Heaven."
 
"In an age in which artists who experiment with 3D-effects risk alienating themselves from the institutional and critical gatekeepers of the contemporary art world, Brambilla has adeptly employed the familiar language of classical art history, and in so doing, may have bridged some of the gap between the accepted discourse of high art, and the work being done by artists in this kind of new media."
 
"Take artist Marco Brambilla's popular 3D video installation, Civilization, a reinterpretation of Dante's Divine Comedy, and add one of the most famous churches downtown. What you get is a eerily fit setting to watch, mingle, and discuss the Flash:Light initiative of Nuit Blanche New York. Then add in a midnight organ program with opera, organ music, and monks in hoodies...and, well this isn't your typical visit to St. Patrick's Basilica in Nolita. Did we mention Chelsea Handler and Andre Balazs were some of the fellow parishioners this Saturday night? Since when did going to church become so cool?"
 
"You can watch a 2D version of the film, but, seeing it in 3D will finally convince you to invest in 3D television."