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In this hands-on workshop, Vinny Roca guides participants through the intersection of game design, media art, and physical interfaces. Drawing from his experience creating works like Slot Waste and Tear Shaped Door, Roca demonstrates how thoughtful controller design can transform digital experiences into meaningful gallery installations. This workshop bridges the gap between screen-based media and physical space, offering fresh perspectives on how interfaces shape audience engagement.

In this workshop, you'll learn:

  • How physical interfaces mediate between viewers and digital artwork
  • Using material constraints to generate new creative possibilities
  • Strategies for designing site-specific installations with custom controllers
  • Techniques for adapting digital works across different exhibition contexts
  • Methods for creating approachable yet meaningful physical interfaces

The workshop combines theory and practice through hands-on exercises. In the first hour, participants analyze existing interfaces and collaborate to generate game concepts driven by physical constraints. The second hour focuses on exhibition design, where participants apply curatorial strategies to realize their concepts in different spaces, from white cube galleries to arcade settings.

Logistics

Length: 2 Hours

About your Instructor

Vinny Roca is an artist and game maker based in Los Angeles, California. Through absurdist video games and simulations, his works seek to make sense of our ever-morphing and changing subjectivity under capital.

He is currently an MFA student at UCLA.

Photos by Chris Hanke and Vinny Roca. This workshop was held on December 1st, 2024.

Physical Interfaces as Material Practice: Controller Design with Vinny Roca

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In this hands-on workshop, Vinny Roca guides participants through the intersection of game design, media art, and physical interfaces. Drawing from his experience creating works like Slot Waste and Tear Shaped Door, Roca demonstrates how thoughtful controller design can transform digital experiences into meaningful gallery installations. This workshop bridges the gap between screen-based media and physical space, offering fresh perspectives on how interfaces shape audience engagement.

In this workshop, you'll learn:

  • How physical interfaces mediate between viewers and digital artwork
  • Using material constraints to generate new creative possibilities
  • Strategies for designing site-specific installations with custom controllers
  • Techniques for adapting digital works across different exhibition contexts
  • Methods for creating approachable yet meaningful physical interfaces

The workshop combines theory and practice through hands-on exercises. In the first hour, participants analyze existing interfaces and collaborate to generate game concepts driven by physical constraints. The second hour focuses on exhibition design, where participants apply curatorial strategies to realize their concepts in different spaces, from white cube galleries to arcade settings.

Logistics

Length: 2 Hours

About your Instructor

Vinny Roca is an artist and game maker based in Los Angeles, California. Through absurdist video games and simulations, his works seek to make sense of our ever-morphing and changing subjectivity under capital.

He is currently an MFA student at UCLA.

Photos by Chris Hanke and Vinny Roca. This workshop was held on December 1st, 2024.

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.