This project is motivated by the desire to cultivate an independent approach to understanding and creating hybrid media. By examining the intersecting histories of cinematic illusion, gaming technologies, and digital tools, it aims to question dominant narratives of technological progress and standard industry practices. Through recontextualizing legacy devices, exploring alternative trajectories, and experimenting with both old and new media, the research project aims to foster critical thinking, creative autonomy, and the ability to generate novel forms of hybrid media.

The past few years I have had an interest in creating works that reveal how technology, storytelling, and perception intersect in ways that challenge conventional media forms, offering opportunities to experiment, question dominant narratives, and explore alternative creative possibilities.

Playfulness is a central aspect of my work, serving as a catalyst for experimentation and discovery.

By embracing a playful approach, both the process and the outcome become open to exploration, with the goal to allow unexpected interactions and ideas to emerge. Equally important is audience participation: engaging viewers as active participants transforms them from passive observers into collaborators, fostering a shared experience where meaning and interpretation are co-created. This combination of play and participation aims to encourage dynamic, evolving works that blur the line between creator and audience.

Showing audience-participatory work often leads to unexpected outcomes, as the audience’s interactions introduce spontaneous behaviors and interpretations that shape the work in unanticipated ways.

My aim is to create a dialogue with my audience by encouraging interaction and engagement, allowing the work itself to communicate ideas and provoke responses without the need for words or conventional forms of communication; this experimental outcome generates unforeseen insights that continuously inform and shape the development of the work.

Audience participation is always an unknown factor, making it a crucial element of the work, as their unpredictable interactions continuously shape its form and meaning

Another key element for this research project is how it is situated in the context of community and knowledge building that contributes to the design field. By engaging with others, sharing insights, and collaboratively exploring ideas, the project not only advances individual practice but also fosters collective learning and innovation within the broader design community.

This is demonstrated both online with platforms as github, arduino and other sharing platforms as well as offline, in physical spaces.

Operating outside of dominant design platforms is important for the field because it encourages critical thinking, and independence from standardized workflows. It allows designers to question conventional limitations, explore alternative techniques, and uncover unique affordances in tools that are often overlooked, ultimately fostering innovation and a more experimental, reflective approach to design practice.

Low-tech approaches are important because they foreground experimentation, accessibility, and hands-on engagement, allowing focus on the underlying principles of a project rather than being constrained by the capabilities or conventions of high-end tools. Working with low-tech materials and methods highlights alternative possibilities, fostering experimentation, creative problem-solving, and a deeper understanding of the fundamental principles that fuel my works.