Join us for a discussion between Henrik Soederstroem, the artist of “Spirit Interface,” and Mikkel Rørbo, an interdisciplinary researcher and sometimes artist and curator. Mikkel is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Peter Weibel Research Institute for Digital Cultures in Vienna. His work focuses on speculative methods for critical engagement with emerging technologies and hauntological aspects of machine intelligence. Henrik’s artistic practice centers around themes of virtuality and reality, often seen through the lens of horror and the supernatural.
Henrik’s 2023 MFA thesis, “Media Horror,” investigates how works of horror fiction engage with media technologies. Mikkel will give a short presentation, and then the two will discuss speculative fiction, haunted media, the digital eerie, and esotericism in the virtual plane.
This talk was held in-person in Los Angeles and over Zoom.
About the Exhibition
This programming is part of Henrik Soederstrom’s “Spirit Interface” exhibition.
The spirit interface is a point of contact with extra-human subjectivities we cannot fully comprehend or define, forces that exert influence without fully revealing themselves; the occult flow of commodities and capital, arcane sub-layers of virtual space, the eerie allure of found objects, the haunting and the sublime in art.
Soederstroem’s mixed media installations dissect familiar motifs from digital media and games, transforming everyday items into unfamiliar artifacts. He draws on horror film and game aesthetics and viral online folklore, tapping into the subconscious anxieties and dark desires they express.
About Your Speakers
A Swedish artist and musician based in LA, Henrik Soederstroem’s work spans computer graphics, generative programming, audio experimentation, immersive installation, drawing, and poetry. He holds an MFA in Media Art from UCLA (2023), is an active contributor to the Free The Land artist collective, and has performed extensively in the US and Europe with the noise music project Händer Som Vårdar.
Mikkel Rørbo is an interdisciplinary researcher and, sometimes, artist and curator. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Peter Weibel Research Institute for Digital Cultures and holds degrees in philosophy and cultural studies from University of Copenhagen. His work focuses on the philosophical dimensions of living with machinic intelligences and speculative methods for critical engagement with emerging technologies. As an artist and curator, he has performed, released and exhibited internationally as well as collaborated with institutions, festivals and art spaces. He has written about and presented work on technology, philosophy and contemporary experiments in music.
Join us for a discussion between Henrik Soederstroem, the artist of “Spirit Interface,” and Mikkel Rørbo, an interdisciplinary researcher and sometimes artist and curator. Mikkel is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Peter Weibel Research Institute for Digital Cultures in Vienna. His work focuses on speculative methods for critical engagement with emerging technologies and hauntological aspects of machine intelligence. Henrik’s artistic practice centers around themes of virtuality and reality, often seen through the lens of horror and the supernatural.
Henrik’s 2023 MFA thesis, “Media Horror,” investigates how works of horror fiction engage with media technologies. Mikkel will give a short presentation, and then the two will discuss speculative fiction, haunted media, the digital eerie, and esotericism in the virtual plane.
This talk was held in-person in Los Angeles and over Zoom.
About the Exhibition
This programming is part of Henrik Soederstrom’s “Spirit Interface” exhibition.
The spirit interface is a point of contact with extra-human subjectivities we cannot fully comprehend or define, forces that exert influence without fully revealing themselves; the occult flow of commodities and capital, arcane sub-layers of virtual space, the eerie allure of found objects, the haunting and the sublime in art.
Soederstroem’s mixed media installations dissect familiar motifs from digital media and games, transforming everyday items into unfamiliar artifacts. He draws on horror film and game aesthetics and viral online folklore, tapping into the subconscious anxieties and dark desires they express.
About Your Speakers
A Swedish artist and musician based in LA, Henrik Soederstroem’s work spans computer graphics, generative programming, audio experimentation, immersive installation, drawing, and poetry. He holds an MFA in Media Art from UCLA (2023), is an active contributor to the Free The Land artist collective, and has performed extensively in the US and Europe with the noise music project Händer Som Vårdar.
Mikkel Rørbo is an interdisciplinary researcher and, sometimes, artist and curator. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Peter Weibel Research Institute for Digital Cultures and holds degrees in philosophy and cultural studies from University of Copenhagen. His work focuses on the philosophical dimensions of living with machinic intelligences and speculative methods for critical engagement with emerging technologies. As an artist and curator, he has performed, released and exhibited internationally as well as collaborated with institutions, festivals and art spaces. He has written about and presented work on technology, philosophy and contemporary experiments in music.
Our Approach
Game-Making Practice
It's for everyone! We believe that game design and thinking is not limited to "the video game industry." It's a creative point of view that any discipline can use.
LEARN FROM Doing
Our workshops are focused on activities with a majority of time spent on making things.
this is only the start
You'll grow from here. We hope that this is a stepping stone for you to permanently work with the material of games.