State of Play: شهر بازی is the selected project of the SHARESPACE Open Call for Artists 2023. The artists were invited to create a multi-user, hybrid, interactive art performance for the Deep Space 8K, and to present this during the Ars Electronica Festival 2024, happening from the 4th to the 8th of September. In the following you find a description of the project and more information about the artists.
Performances of State of Play: شهر بازی during the Ars Electronica Festival 2024 are:
Thursday September 5th, 18:30-19:30
Saturday September 7th, 10:30-11:30
Project Description
When you enter the space make sure that you find a good spot to sit or stand.
You will experience art and nothing else. State of Play: شهر بازی is a deconstructed interpretation of seven labors of Rostam, the lonely warrior of Shahnameh (book of kings), the long epic poem written between 977-1010 CE by the Persian poet Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi. State of Play: شهر بازی deconstructs the conventions of the game industry, boss fights, Persian mythology and poetry, and new media.
In this participative performance, the audience is provided with a set of storylines that lead to an interactive journey. During which, the audience has ultimate control over the story’s further development through their interactions and narrative choices. A commentary game master will help the audience to interact with the piece and make decisions.
This body of work is suitable for everyone from age 6 to 106 y/o.
Credits:
Tara Habibzadeh: Concept, Research, Artistic Direction, 2D Visuals, Script
Mati Bratkowski: Unreal Engine Development, Game Design, Creative Direction
Harriet Davey: Character Design, Design Direction
About the Artists
Tara Habibzadeh’s practice thinks in refined yet impulsive evidence of ambiguous audiovisual dialectics beyond self. Born and raised in Tehran with an academic background in Film, Mathematics, Law and Philosophy, Habibzadeh’s works think in analogies and metaphors for complex systems and layers in the simplest dialectic visuals and language using the mundane trivial while challenging the Eurocentric colonial and orientalist binaries with scientific and universal methods. Their varied works include video, painting, installation and words. They live and work in Tehran and Berlin.
Find out more at: https://www.instagram.com/kamikaze.labyrinthe/
Mati Bratkowski (b. 1997) is a digital artist and game developer specializing in digital performance, virtual reality, and immersive experiences. He collaborated on tour visuals for Madonna’s World Tour and has worked with artists like the Keiken collective and Gabriel Massan. His work has been showcased globally, including in the UK, Germany, France, Japan, China, and throughout Europe, at venues like the 21st Century Museum in Japan, HAU Theatre in Berlin, and Somerset House in the UK.
Find out more at: https://www.instagram.com/matibratkowski/
Harriet Davey is a 3D Artist and Art Director based in Berlin. Through the exploration of gender non-conforming virtual avatars, Davey restores and reclaims the bodies extorted by a male dominated gaming industry. Obsessed with questioning what it means to be fluid and human in a digital world: their work examines and interrogates the ugly and the beautiful; the maximum and the minimum; the online and the offline.
Find out m ore at: https://www.instagram.com/harriet.blend/
