Artists 2024 - Playtopia

As Above So Below

Sara Laubscher is an indie game dev and digital artist who aims to blend the practical with the abstract in order to create a wholly immersive ‘digital yet physical’ experience. Finding inspiration through keen observation of the many worlds around her, Sara believes that the spaces we inhabit can be rather magical if only we chose to see it that way. Her work reflects this sense of wonder and celebrates technology and the fantastical coming together. Sara has exhibited her work locally as well as internationally and facilitated exploratory art at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

The Cape Town-based wizard, Stephan, takes people on a mesmerizing journey through calmer, alternative analogue synthesizer music. His debut album Perennial Duplicity is heavily inspired by the weird and wonderful world of carnivorous plants. Performing with his plants connected to his synthesizer, he is able to tap into an unknown sonic layer humans rarely experience.

Gabriella Mathurine, is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cape Town. Her work is rooted in the exploration of liminality and sterile fantasy, often manifesting in paintings of uninhabited landscapes. Growing up on the mangrove-rich coastline, her work reflects a deep connection to nature, merging it with a surreal, dreamcore aesthetic. A cult-like, weekly gathering of alternative friends “Crafting” every Sunday fostered her appreciation for the intricate ties between craft and art, pushing her to explore the expansive possibilities of mixed media. This has honed her skills in creating uninhabited landscapes that evoke a sense of disquiet and tenuous calm, focusing on moments of beauty she wishes to surround herself with. Gabriella brings a unique perspective to any project, blending alternative, surrealist vibes with a meticulous approach to craft.

Convergence

Convergence is a speculative depiction of a potential dystopian future that takes place in Cape Town, South Africa.The film envisions a state of tension between humans, technology, and nature has escalated to a critical level, resulting in a tipping point.The film immerses the viewer in various site-specific locations around Cape Town, with each scene conveying its own distinct visual narrative. It offers a passive experiential journey, where the viewer is positioned as a solitary observer, immersed in the act of observing and interpreting the surrounding environments.

Crashboard

Emilie Breslavetz is a game designer and playful artist based in Paris. She makes alternative controllers, playful installations and experimental video games which she calls her « Playful Machines ». She programs interactive
softwares for which she builds physical and analog interfaces by mixing electronic components and crafting materials. She likes to explore new ways to play, gather people and express oneself by hijacking game mechanics or working on meaningful game design between physical and virtual media.

Leon Denise is using video games tools to explore and experiment digital playgrounds. His work is about image filters, glitch effects, fractal shapes, particle systems
behaviours and mathematical sculptures. He’s a freelancer shader coder and technical artist, working mostly with creative studios on VR standalone devices, interactive installations, playful devices, immersive projections and new media movies.

He participates in the organization of the Cookie Collective, which gathers digital artists involved in real-time creation. This covers video games, art installations, video mapping, demoscene, live coding, etc. The Cookies are collaborating with festivals and institutions to promote live coding audio visual performances and playful alternative installations.

Cube

Al Campbell is a visual artist based in Cape Town. His work ranges from traditional oil painting and graphite drawings through to new media applications. A variety of projection mapping projects has led to collaborations with a range of South Africa’s most dynamic musicians and DJs.

IG @alcampbellva

Sailor Tinkerbell is a mural artist and graphicdesigner who works with mixed media. She represents a strong connection with nature and geometry, uses various styles for indoor and outdoor spaces. Sailor Tinkerbell has worked in Russia, Indonesia, USA, Israel, South Africa and Zambia. She uses her background in marketing as a tool that helps to visualize concepts for different types of customers.

IG @sailortinkerbell

Play Play Rev

Inka Kendzia, interdisciplinary artist, vj and director, loves exploring the play of light to visualize our interconnectedness with nature and reveal our shared humanity. She is embracing new technologies like AI, VR and generative visuals and is excited by using these tools to further inspire connection and self-reflection. The medium of projection art is her favourite, she feels as a non-physical medium it does not alter ‘the thing’ itself but can alter perception of anything in a lasting way, any space and shape can become a canvas…

Playground

Little Girl and The Genie invite participants to step into a series of immersive environments that capture the magic and simplicity of childhood. Through this multi-sensory, interactive installation, participants are encouraged to reconnect with their inner child, exploring memories and games that transcend time. This installation not only celebrates childhood but also promotes sustainable practices through the creative use of materials.

ALUCENT SWAMP

We are a collective of creatives – Argo, Rheece, Carlo and Manuel – with a shared passion for visual experiences and immersive technologies. Our individual expertise spans motion graphics, concept-driven events, projection mapping, film production, and interactive experiences. We are joined by Tyler, a talented artist and scientist specializing in AI-generated visuals.

Prism

Prism: Step into ‘•. ̧♡ PRISM ♡ ̧.•’ a living, breathing intersection of art and technology that invites playful exploration and interaction. This immersive installation embodies the symbiotic relationship between traditional art forms and cutting-edge technology, creating a dynamic, responsive environment that evolves with each participant’s presence.

‘•. ̧♡ PRISM ♡ ̧.•’ represents the emergence and blurring between definitions and facets within our lives. As technology evolves, and as we respond to our environment, disciplines such as art and technology each inform and transform the other.

WIP

Emma is an experience designer from cape town, she has been living in the netherlands for four years and working in immersive media. She is now back and respawning, looking for the right opportunity to create her next work.

She exhibited her first piece titled poolish at the 2019 playtopia festival at the castle.

Robin Baumgarten

Robin is an experimental hardware game developer and interactive installation artist based in Berlin, Germany. His works range from award-winning one-dimensional hardware games, over weird wobbly spheres, to walls full of door stopper springs that visualise quantum physics in a playful yet scientifically accurate manner.

Thomas Waterzooi

Thomas Waterzooi is a solo-dev (formerly Larian Studios/IO-Interactive) from Brussels who makes accessible games inspired by art. His games are not about skills or high-scores. They are about relaxing, reflecting, experimenting, and being absorbed into the story & aesthetics. ‘Please, Touch The Artwork’ won several awards at a.o. Google Play Indie Festival ‘22, Tokyo Game Show, Belgium Game Awards and an Apple Design Award nomination. ‘Please, Touch The Artwork 2’ was downloaded more than 500.000 times and received over 3500 overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews.

artists

2024

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