Mechanimal 2023

Collective Worldbuilding – Art in the Metaverse

Curators: Sabine Himmelsbach, Boris Magrini

3 Jun. – 13 Aug. 2023.

In the virtual world [Mechanimal], which simulates research on future species, someone requests help from real-life people via Social Media. Participants join together on a quest to find the missing human-administrator who created this virtual world. In the exhibition hall, a replica of the human-administrator’s research lab is installed, allowing visitors to access the virtual world and collect information left by anonymous visitors on Social Media. Traces of another virtual world hidden somewhere are gradually unveiled. Through asynchronous and indirect communication, participants collaborate in the game while sharing thoughts on coexistence with companion species. [Mechanimal] questions the future as it observes non-human life forms living alongside humans in cities, yet it also tells the most realistic stories we are facing today.