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 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.
Partners (Budapest)
Developed in partnership with ADAPTÉR as home base, and Judit Böröcz, long term artistic sparring partner SPACE, Lévai Zsófia soft-Interface designer, Zsuzsa Berecz (Pneumaszöv, Internép Theater) and NYITVA Fesztivál.
Relational Research
SPACE / Petra Ardai researches what makes us human. To understand being human, we must investigate our relationships—with ourselves, other people, and more-than-human entities. In the Nursery of Interfaces, we dissect the relationships between ourselves and the other:
- beginning with how, when, and why we connect—or fail to do so,
- then how that process shapes both ourselves and the other,
- and finally how, when, and why a connection breaks or dissolves.
Interface Research
Interfaces are places where one thing encounters another: a conversation, a device, a shared silence, a gust of wind, a protest sign, or an unexpected joke. Interfaces are not fixed tools or screens—they are living processes. They are safe in-between spaces to truly engage with the complexity of interrelationships—where friction is allowed to exist, and we do not simplify or avoid, but meet one another with curiosity and vulnerability.
Who it’s for? 10 artists (professional makers / teams: performance artist, visual artists, media artists, multidisciplinary designers). Selected via open call (network-based distribution with partners).
Planned schedule of the process:
- Thu 16 Apr, 10:00–16:00 – Nest Opening: introductions
- Fri 17 Apr, 14:00–20:00 – Lab 1 + shared evening programme
- Mon 20 Apr, 10:00–16:00 – Impulse Day / guest expert(
- Wed 22 Apr, 10:00–16:00 – Nest: processing
- Fri 24 Apr, 10:00–16:00 – Lab 2: WIP + dilemmas + collaborative work
- Sat–Sun 25–26 Apr, – Mentoring (as needed)
- Mon 27 Apr, 10:00–16:00 – Impulse Day 2: guest expert
- Tue–Wed 28–29 Apr, – Mentoring (as needed)
- Fri 1 May, 10:00–16:00 – Lab 3: WIP + feedback + collaborative work
- 1–6 May, – Mentoring (as needed) + test audience
- Thu 7 May, – Excursion to Internép (with Nyitva Festival)
- Fri 8 May, 10:00–16:00 – Lab 4: WIP + feedback + collaborative work
- Sat 9 May, – 16:00–20:00 opening interactive pop-up exhibition
- Sun 10–Fri 15 May, 10:00–16:00 – Interactive exhibition open to visitors
- Sun 10 May, – Harvest: sharing interface experiences + learnings +dinner
- Between 12 May–13 Jun – 3-day Adaptér +InterFÉSZEK at the Nyitva Festival: working on adaptations of the concepts
What it produces (this edition, and beyond)
This project is a beginning. We work towards new presentations and a sustainable learning and exchange format between tech and arts, between performance artist, visual artists, (inter)media artists and creative art -tech innovators—a repeatable pop-up / masterclass-to-showcase trajectory, in search of a shared vocabulary, immersivity, and “the how is the what.”