This project marks the beginning of a collaboration between theatre maker Petra Ardai/SPACE and researcher Ágnes Bakk, MoME (Immersion and Interaction Lab). We share a fascination with immersivity—both in low-tech and high-tech performativity—and want to delve into art experiences at the intersection of design, theory, and performance art/theatre. Nursery of Interfaces is a shared artistic research by the initiators and potential participants into new ways of making contact—and how to translate these into work that is accessible, performative, and socially relevant. The project is being developed in partnership with Zsuzsa Berecz (Pneumaszöv, Internép Theater), Judit Böröcz and Katalin Erdödi from Trafó House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest.
The aim of this unique collaboration is to bring together expertise in new media and performance art to develop immersive theatrical installations and experimental ‘interface sketches’, designed for and together with the audience. Central to our approach is the philosopher Timothy Morton’s idea: ‘the how is the what’—our methods, gestures and intentions are not just means but constitute the content itself. Through an open call, 10 to 15 professional artists (or teams) will be selected for a masterclass. The invitation to participants: create experiences as interactive processes— spaces for new questions and connections, works that focus on performance and media art in the 21st century and go beyond simply showing work or collecting data. The masterclass concludes with a mini-festival in the Trafó theatre and other locations in Budapest as well as online. The collaboration will utilize the networks, spaces, and equipment of the involved institutions.