The Psychogeographer’s Guide to Virtual Worlds 9 November to 8 December 2024

About

How does one play a psychogeographical game in a virtual world?

Psychogeography was first introduced by the Situationists who used the term to describe the conscious or unconscious impact of the geographical environment on the emotions and behaviours of individuals within a city. One of its core practices is the walking practice known as the dérive, which usually involves taking an unplanned journey through a city that takes people out of their usual everyday life.

Psychogeography has had a long history of influence and expression through contemporary artistic practices and literature, just as computer games have also become a new space for artistic practices. What relationship does the psychogeographical game have with computer games of today, and how could one play a psychogeographical game in the virtual world of a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game?

Debbie Ding will present games and works-in-progress from the recent years of her practice in a series of VRChat Safaris, Open Studios, artist talks, and workshops at 136 Goethe Lab.

Public Events

9 NOVEMBER – 8 DECEMBER

Open Studio
Every Saturday (9 Nov, 16 Nov, 23 Nov, 30 Nov & 7 Dec), 1 to 6pm
Visit here to register

Monday – Friday & Sunday by appointment only via https://psychogeogamer.org

Talks
Art and Design Education in the Metaverse
16 Nov, 4 to 5pm
Special guests: Spang & Lei

This public event will explore the creative possibilities for art and design education in the virtual worlds and the future metaverse. This guided tour through amateur builds of collaborative learning worlds will be used as a starting point for a discussion on how virtual worlds can be used for the exploration of new creative forms and as spaces for art & design education.

About Spang & Lei
Spang & Lei are a dynamic digital duo whose practice is driven by performative dimensions of participatory experiences; how emergent and speculative technologies can challenge dominant narratives around formation and governance of locales and bodies. They create new frameworks for technology-mediated interactions and collaborative encounters, an endeavor that has prompted Spang & Lei to develop and curate numerous local and international arts, media, and tech initiatives.

Register to attend in person or for Zoom link.

Museums and Exhibitions in the Metaverse
23 Nov, 4 to 5pm
Special guests: Sistrum

This public event will explore the virtual worlds and the future metaverse being used as museum and gallery space within virtual reality. This guided tour through amateur and professional presentations of art and cultural artifacts in the metaverse will be used as a starting point for a discussion on how immersive media can shape cultural experiences in the future.

About Sistrum
SISTRUM is an interdisciplinary collective of three artists: sound designer Ramesh Krishnan, architect Laura Miotto and graphic designer Lim Shu Min. Their work involves the creation of installations, exhibitions and digital platforms enquiring into the narrative quality of sound and the environment.

Register to attend in person or for Zoom link.

From Cybertext to the Metaverse
30 Nov, 4 to 5pm
Special guests: Joses Ho & Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

This public event will explore how the Metaverse evolved from Cybertext. This guided tour through amateur and professional worlds in the metaverse will be used as a starting point for a discussion on how literature, fiction, and poetry could evolve through the future metaverse.

About Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
Victor Fernando R. Ocampo is the author of the International Rubery Book Award shortlisted The Infinite Library and Other Stories (Math Paper Press, 2017; Gaudy Boy, 2021) and Here be Dragons (CANVAS Press, 2015), which won the Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Award in 2012. His play-by-email interactive fiction piece “The Book of Red Shadows” debuted at the Singapore Writers Festival in 2020.

About Joses Ho
Joses Ho is a poet, senior research fellow in Neuroscience and Molecular Biology, and pro-wrestler. As tech sorceror for SingPoWriMo (the largest online month-long poetry-writing activity in Asia), he archives and visualizes the poetry posted. His fiction can be found at Nature Futures and LabLit. His poetry is published in QLRS, LONTAR, and various SingPoWriMo anthologies.

Register to attend in person or for Zoom link.

Ludotopia: Playing psychogeographical games in virtual worlds
Artist Talk
7 Dec, 4 to 5pm

“Ludotopia” is an artist talk (and early draft of a performance lecture) by Debbie Ding, exploring emotional terrains, imaginary cities, and public space in games. The artist will take the audience on a walking tour of public virtual worlds on existing game platforms, as well as game worlds entirely created by the artist.

Register to attend in person or for Zoom link.

The Artist

Debbie Ding is a visual artist and technologist whose interests range from historical research and urban geography to visions of the future. She researches and explores technologies of perception through personal investigations and experimentation. Prototyping is used as a conceptual strategy for artistic production, iteratively exploring potential dead-ends and breakthroughs–as they would be encountered by amateur archaeologists, citizen scientists, and machines programmed to perform roles of cultural craftsmanship.

Debbie received a BA in English Literature from the National University of Singapore and, as a recipient of the NAC Arts Scholarship (Postgraduate), an MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art, London. She is currently doing a practice-led PhD at Nanyang Technological University on the NTU Research Scholarship. She has had solo exhibitions at The Substation Gallery, Singapore (2010) and Galerie Steph, Singapore (2013). Selected exhibitions include "Radical Gaming" (HeK), “Wikicliki” (Singapore Art Museum, 2021), “President’s Young Talents” (Singapore Art Museum, 2018); “After the Fall” (National Museum of Singapore, 2017); Singapore Biennale (2016); Radio Malaya (NUS Museum, 2016). Her work was shortlisted for the President’s Young Talents 2018 and Impart Art Awards 2020.
 

The Space

136 GOETHE LAB is a new project space at the Goethe-Institut Singapore. Housed in the former library and reading room, the space is intended as a response to the need for physical spaces for the arts, and an ongoing conversation with the public and arts community in Singapore.

THE PSYCHOGEOGRAPHER’S GUIDE TO VIRTUAL WORLDS is supported as part of the open call for 136 GOETHE LAB, which invited applicants to activate the space with a group proposal.