[Re|Dis]Connection

The ICIDS 2021 Art Exhibition provides a platform for artists, makers and creators to explore interactive storytelling from the perspective of a particular curatorial theme: 

[Re|Dis]Connection 

Please note that the curatorial theme is intended to inspire, not constrain, and will be developed further to accommodate the accepted works. As the world attempts to recover from a global pandemic, issues of disconnection and reconnection are at the forefront of many people’s mind. The horrors (and joys) of being disconnected from the wider world, and the anticipation (or anxiety) around reconnecting with family, loved ones and society at large.These concepts relate to interactive narratives not only in terms of theme, but also methodologies, structures and modalities. This exhibition encourages artists to explore Reconnection and/or Disconnection across disciplines, languages, cultures, technologies, and histories.

The curatorial team seeks to inspire proposals with the following open questions:

  • How might interactive storytelling aid or represent experiences of reconnection?
  • What effect might sensations of disconnection (from each other, from technology, from the internet) have on interactive storytelling?
  • How far do the connections and disconnections (between different technologies, methodologies, creative practices, creators, story nodes etc etc) shape interactive storytelling?

 

ICIDS 2021 Art Exhibition

[Re|Dis]Connection

Selected Works

We are delighted to announce the works selected for the ICIDS 2021 Art Exhibition:

UnearthU by Kara Stone
Her Palace by Tianbai Jia
Secrets of Soil by Henry Driver
The Witch's Way by Doris Rusch and Andrew Phelps
A Web Odyssey by Serge Bouchardon
Aonar by Austin Wolfe
Office for Language Under Capitalism by Kathy Wu
Promesa by Julián Palacios Gechtman
Drop/lets/fail to connect by Laureline Chiapello and Florian Glesser
Laughland (2019) by Keren Kuenberg
The Visit by felt Experience and Empathy Lab, UNSW Sydney
Figurski at Findhorn on Acid by Richard Holeton

The judges felt these twelve works represented, challenged and interpreted the theme of [Re|Dis]Connection in interesting, varied and provocative ways. We also felt that together, these works give an eclectic overview of interactive digital narrative as a field, showing its breadth and variety, and embodying its history, its present and its future.

Judging Panel

We would like to also take this opportunity to extend our thanks to the judging panel, who so kindly volunteered their expertise. The judging panel were:

Ryan Bown, Associate Professor of Entertainment Arts Engineering, University of Utah
Dr Joshua Fisher, Assistant Professor of Immersive Media, Columbia College Chicago
Dr Néill O’Dwyer, Senior Research Fellow in Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin
Taavet Jansen, Artist and Researcher, Estonian Academy of Arts
Dr Jung In Jung, Research Fellow in Interactive Engagement, University of Dundee
Brian Salisbury, Associate Professor of Entertainment Arts Engineering, University of Utah
Dr Maria Cecilia Reyes, Writer and Researcher-in-Residence, Schloss Solitude Akademie
Dr Lyle Skains, Writer and Principal Academic in Health and Science Communication, Bournemouth University
Prof. Dr. Ido Iurgel, Professor of Media Informatics, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences
Dr Lissa Holloway-Attaway, Associate Professor of Media Arts, Aesthetics and Narration, University of Skövde

STARTS.EE Exhibition

STARTS.EE is Tallinn University’s umbrella initiative promoting encounters between science, technology, and arts. It was founded as a local initiative of the project S+T+ARTS funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

A variety of activities have been developed under the project’s scope: interdisciplinary residencies, seasonal schools, and workshops involving students, artists, researchers, and professionals from various universities and fields of studies.

The works exhibited were previously part of the initiative, promoting stronger ties between creative approaches, science, and technology development.

ICIDS 2020 Art Exhibition Book

Edited by: María Cecilia ReyesJames Pope

Can discomfort be blissful? This volume presents an in-depth reflection of the selected artworks for the Art Exhibition of the 13th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling – ICIDS 2020 – organized at Bournemouth University – UK, during the most memorable year of the XXI century (so far). The title of the book is the homonym of the curatorial theme of the exhibition Texts of Discomfort. In these pages, interactive storytellers explain their work and the ways discomfort – and bliss – is rooted in their art.