The Transmission in Motion research group is organizing another interesting Meet the Maker event, this time focusing on media artist Roos Groothuizen. As the event website puts it:

Working primarily with playful media, Roos uses game mechanics to give interactive and immersive forms to these abstract issues: a casino where you gamble with your personal data, an escape room about the power of Big Tech, a dollhouse detective game about smart home devices, a VR installation about identity etc.

Roos’ current project involves smart doorbells. These are devices of questionable legality that are changing streetscapes and neighborly relationships, raising important questions about the rights of privacy, the desire for convenience and safety, as well as cultural attitudes towards public and private space. They are also objects of interest given the rise of surveillance horror, which is a subgenre that uses diegetic cameras to great effect, for example in the iconic game Five Nights at Freddy’s. How are the affordances of smart doorbells, with their fish-eye lenses, their fickle motion sensors, and their unexpected blind spots going to inform the next generation of found footage horror?

This should be interesting for games researchers interested in the artistic potential of playful media. More information can be found on the event website HERE. There is an RSVP form you can fill in if you want to join.

(Top picture: Roos Groothuizen, still from ‘Ode to Frances’ (2022), courtesy of the artist, taken from event website)