CYBERIA 2021
Podcast Series curated and hosted by Anokhi Shah
Design X Technology festival at TIFA Working Studio
In Collaboration with Goethe Institut, Pune
Is it possible to explore the spatial and interactive possibilities of virtual environments as a space for new thoughts and aesthetics? Especially ones that come forward from culture and technology? What platforms can be used for the modeling of the new discourses and for the articulation of new works, ideas, and theories? How does one make freedom and playfulness – traditionally granted to artists, accessible to a wider audience? And, how do we design situations or objects that stimulate activity and participation, that could lead to a ripple effect, transforming a viewer or a social context?
Can games be the new medium for this discourse? We, at TIFA Working Studios, would like to experiment with the virtual space of games and elements of video game design. This year Cyberia Virtual aims to lay a foundation for experimentation through play using key principles from video game design like interaction, world design, narrative, character design, and aesthetics.
Listen to the Podcast series: https://anchor.fm/tifa-working-studios
Special thanks:
Ria Rajan @_rrad.studio_
Anuj Nakade @asifiknowu / @deepfriedneurons
Siddharth Merchant @triggerfish.wut
01. Videogames 101 Ft. SirViktor
Listen to Podcast: Here
Prataprao, also known as SirViktor in the online gaming world who is currently residing in California, USA. He is currently employed as a software engineer for a corporation with more verticals than he can care to count. He was born in Mumbai, but he considers Pune to be his hometown. Gaming and messing around with electronics, in general, has been a part of his life since his family got him his first personal computer. Presently he is a proud owner of a kickass PC with an Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card, and a PlayStation 4 Pro. He has a special bias for role-playing and strategy games.
What were the best video games of the year 2020? Talking about Cyberpunk 2077, Ghost of Tsushima, Last of Us Part II, etc. Talking about different genres in video games, MMO, MMOBA, Game-plays, etc. Discussions on Modding and how that opens up creative avenues within the game. Covering some game aesthetics and the immersion it brings with it.
Image Credit: Monument Valley
02: Fiction and Entertainment Ft. Miriam Kuhlmann
Listen to Podcast: Here
Miriam Kuhlmann is a German-born sci-fi artist, architect, and film director who operates in the spaces between design, fiction, and futures. Kuhlmann uses cutting-edge technology to create both mainstream and design media exploring the limits of technology and study its emotional impact. In her latest Film Project MercuryXX, she leveraged Machine Learning and Virtual Reality for worldbuilding, such as the spaceship, the shuttle, and the handcrafted spacesuit during quarantine. The wild and messy sketches of the ML in combination with traditional architectural approaches result in raw, furry, and fleshy organic structures, constructing a fantastic atmosphere with a strong Xenofeminist agenda. Miriam Kuhlmann holds degrees in Interior Design, Architecture & Aesthetic Practice from Staedelschule in Frankfurt as well as a degree in Fiction & Entertainment from SCI-Arc. She is currently based in Los Angeles, California. Her work 330,000 Feet Apart and MercuryXX is currently being exhibited in the AplusD Museum in Los Angeles as part of the Futuresof_Space online exhibition.
Kuhlmann and Shah discuss new ideas and theories within emerging technologies. They discuss their unique experiences with the mediums and the creative practices that emerge from them.
Miriam Kuhlmann Instagram: @miriam__kuhlmann @mercuryxx_official
Links:
www.miriamkuhlmann.com
www.mercuryxx.com
Xenofeminism by Laboriacuboniks
Image Credit: Raised by Wolves
03: AI X Creativity Ft. ProvidesNG
Listen to Podcast: Here
Provides Ng is an architect/researcher, who studies the emergence of digital tools, their applications, and impacts on urbanism. Her theoretical work maps a timeline of events around Cybernetics, Information, and Game Theories, searching for system design tools that fall between the established fields of expertise. Provides currently teaches at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL). She also actively engages in speculative design, collaborating interdisciplinarily with talents worldwide and established creative practice current.cam and researcher collective R.E.Ar_ to experiment with technologies first-hand, expanding the audiovisual spectrum of design production and architectural representation.
In this podcast, Provides take us on a journey introducing us to lead characters and gives us an insight as to where AI actually comes from. Discussions on ways AI is being used in creative and artistic practices these days.
ProvidesNG Instagram: @provides.ism @current.cam @R.E.Ar_
Link: www.current.cam
Image Credits: Google DeepDream
04. Immersive WorldBuilding Ft. Vamsi Krishna Vemuri
Listen to Podcast: Here
Vamsi Krishna Vemuri is a speculative architect, educator, and entrepreneur based in Frankfurt, Germany. He operates at the intersection of speculative design, immersive media (AR/VR/XR), and game thinking. He holds diverse experience in communicating through contemporary forms and spatial experiences. As a designer and researcher, his work has been published in various conferences, International magazines, and design festivals in the US, UK, Germany, Latvia, India & Japan. He recently co-founded Futurly - a global education platform for architects and designers. .Futurly is an active network connecting expert instructors and participants from over 50+ countries, all over the world.
In this podcast, Vamsi discusses new ways how we can create and engage with worldbuilding and the existing tools for engagement. Discussions on Immersive Mediums like Virtual and Augmented Reality.
Vamsi Krishna Vemuri Instagram: @vamzeekrriz @futurly.space
Link: https://www.thefuturly.com/
Image Credits: Cyberpunk 2077
05: Womxn and VideoGames
A panel discussion between Curator Anokhi Shah, Aditi Rakhe, Poornima Seetharaman, and Shraddha Nair
Listen to Podcast: Here
Discussions on women in the world of video game design. Some examples from already existing games.
Poornima has been part of the gaming industry for over 15 years and essayed roles varying from Game Designer to Producer to Studio head and Entrepreneur. She has been part of companies like Indiagames (Disney India), Jumpstart, GSN Games, etc. She is currently a Director of Design at Zynga. She has worked on franchises like BioShock Mobile, How to Train your Dragons, Neopets, and FarmVille 2: Country Escape to name a few. She is a Women in Games Ambassador and also a Hall of Fame Inductee at the Global WIG Awards 2020, making her the first Indian game developer to receive such an honor.
Instagram: @arty_mis
Links:
http://drowlife.com/
http://www.womeningames.org/hall-of-fame/
Aditi Rakhe received her Bachelors in Architecture from Faculty of Architecture, S.C.E.T, Surat and her M.A. in History of Art from the University of Nottingham, U.K. She has been working in curatorial teams and has undertaken various exhibitions in India and U.K. as an exhibition designer and manager. She has worked with Crop up Gallery (University of Nottingham) and The Aftermath Project x Nottingham Contemporary in the U.K. In India, she has worked with the Museum of Goa on various events and exhibitions and was the project manager for Goa Affordable Art Fest 2018. Subsequently, she joined TIFA Working Studios, Pune, as a Programmes Manager & was the Festival curator for the Futures of Sexuality Festival 2019. She presently works as a Project Lead (My City My Heritage) at Sahapedia.
Instagram: @gobblefunker
Shraddha Nair is a writer and curator who lives and works between Kodaikanal and Bengaluru. Her curatorial practice is a method by which she negotiates and navigates the complexities of human consciousness, an interest that flows into her writing as well. She believes that art and collective experience holds immense capacity to cultivate conversation, which forms the bedrock for cultural development - a process she deems vital in today's turbulent times. She is currently working to create spaces for art as a medium for discourse and education through interactions with children. Nair graduated from Srishti Institute, Bengaluru in 2018 and is currently a writer for the digital publication STIRworld.
Instagram: @yourlocalcurator
Link: www.yourlocalcurator.com
Image Credits: Cyberpunk 2077
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