Seize control of the interface. 

Every Land of Oz has a control room full of switchboards, knobs, and levers. Follow us to the end of the Yellow Brick Road and seize control of the interface. 

‘Interface’ means a common boundary of two bodies, or a ‘place of interaction between two systems.’ Interfaces, like languages, governance systems, and social-media apps, mediate our interactions. An awareness and understanding of their functions empower us as active members of society. Good interfaces promote imagination and societal improvement, while authoritarian interfaces, like in Orwell’s 1984, stay out of reach, keeping us in check. 

The release of Meta Quest 3 and Apple’s Vision Pro marks a new frontier in Mixed-Reality, promising to revolutionise how we interact with the world – making us active agents in a tech-enhanced reality. This technology holds both the risk of obscuring our understanding of the world as well as the promise of enriching our perception with valuable layers of information. Embracing ‘Reality’ and ‘Virtuality’ as two aspects of the REAL experience might help us integrate it in our daily lives. 

In this year’s Expanded programme, we look at the artists who work at the intersection of these layers, making interfaces that act as switchboards, knobs, and levers of superimposed realities, and handing over the control to us. 

‘Interface [is] where the mind and body can connect with the universe and move bits of it about.’ – Douglas Adams 

Programme titles

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom (VR Interactive Film) – Kenichi Suzuki, France – Japan, USA, 2024
• Nightmara Ep 1 – 3 (VR) – Gianpaolo Gonzalez – USA, 2024
• Oto’s Planet (Interactive VR) – Gwenael François – Luxemburg, Canada, France, 2024
• Project_Y: Working Title (Interactive VR) – Yuzo Sugano, Shingo Yoshimura, Toshiki Sakamoto, Taro Hirai – Japan, 2024
• Sen (Interactive VR) – Keisuke Itoh – Japan, 2023
• The Tent (Mixed Reality) – Rory Mitchell – USA, 2024
• Tulpamancer (VR + AI) – Marc Da Costa, Matthew Niederhauser – USA, 2023
• Uncanny Alley: A New Day (Live Participatory VR Theatre) – Stephen Butchko, Rick Treweek – USA, South Africa, 2024
• Interfaces of Reality: Exhibtion & Games – in collaboration with HomeComputerMuseum (Helmond)