Concept art for Feral Metaverse by Connor Willumsen, courtesy of ONX Studio
curated by Julia Kaganskiy in partnership with Serpentine Arts Technologies and Rhizome
161 Water St, Floor 4 - Entrance on Water & John Street, New York
September 26 to October 20, 2024
Opening and Public Hours: To be announced
Group Hug is an ambitious exhibition that aims to redefine the boundaries of video game installations. Held in collaboration with Water Street Projects and curated by Julia Kaganskiy in partnership with Serpentine Arts Technologies and Rhizome, this exhibition transforms the London gallery space into a dynamic playground where visitors are invited to explore and engage with large-scale, site-specific works.
Group Hug challenges the conventions of individualistic gameplay by promoting radical collaboration. Through a selection of pioneering works by leading artists in the field, the exhibition foregrounds cooperative experiences where communication, shared discovery, and mutual reliance are essential for navigating unfamiliar worlds. Visitors will find themselves immersed in multi-sensory environments that blur the lines between player and participant, artist and audience.
The exhibition is a testament to our evolving curatorial model, which emphasizes collective curation and diverse perspectives. Alongside the installations, Group Hug will feature a series of public programs, set to be announced in early September, that further explore the themes of collaboration and community.
Featured artists: Theo Triantafyllidis, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, and Tale of Tales
Artworks
Still from Feral Metaverse courtesy of Theo Triantafyllidis and ONX Studio
Theo Triantafyllidis – Feral Metaverse Triantafyllidis’s Feral Metaverse drops players into a chaotic landscape where survival depends on disinhibition and cooperation. Breaking away from traditional gaming logic, the work invites participants to navigate a world that prioritizes collective action over competition. The installation, anchored by a custom-built medieval catapult, embodies the artist’s vision of a “feralized” society where synchronicity and shared experience take precedence. Feral Metaverse is curated for Group Hug by Julia Kaganskiy.
Theo Triantafyllidis (b. 1988, Athens) is an artist who blends digital and physical media to explore space and embodiment in hybrid realities. His work, characterized by awkward interactions and precarious physics, invites viewers into uncanny and poetic environments. Using monster theory, Triantafyllidis delves into themes of isolation, sexuality, and violence, often incorporating computational humor and AI improvisation. He holds an MFA from UCLA and a Diploma of Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens. His work has been exhibited in institutions such as the House of Electronic Arts, Hammer Museum, and NRW Forum, and he has participated in events like the Athens Biennale, Sundance New Frontier, and the Venice Biennale.
Still from THE LACK: I KNEW YOUR VOICE BEFORE YOU SPOKE courtesy of Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley and ONX Studio
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley – THE LACK: I KNEW YOUR VOICE BEFORE YOU SPOKE Brathwaite-Shirley’s THE LACK is a deeply personal exploration of Black Trans identity through the lens of a choose-your-own-adventure game. The installation incorporates performance elements, with bespoke dance mats serving as controllers and soundscapes generated by player interaction. In this space, the audience becomes a crucial part of the work, blurring the line between creator and participant. Curated by Serpentine Arts Technologies, THE LACK transforms the gallery into a site of active engagement.
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley (b. 1995, London) is a Berlin/London-based artist working in animation, sound, performance, and video game development. Their practice creatively retells the stories of Black Trans people by blending lived experience with fiction. Brathwaite-Shirley's work has been featured in solo exhibitions and performances at venues including Fundació Joan Miró, LAS, Studio Voltaire, and SCAD, and in group exhibitions at institutions such as the Julia Stoschek Foundation and Barbican. They received a BA from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2019.
Still from The Endless Forest courtesy of Tale of Tales and ONX Studio
Tale of Tales – The Endless Forest In The Endless Forest, players inhabit the tranquil world of a multiplayer online game where they explore a vast forest as deer. Devoid of traditional goals or objectives, the game encourages peaceful interaction and exploration. This dreamlike environment, sustained by a dedicated community for nearly two decades, is curated for Group Hug by Rhizome.
Auriea studied sculpture at Parsons in New York, and Michael graphic design at Sint-Lucas in Ghent. They began their digital art careers with entropy8.com and zuper.com, meeting in 1999 through the hell.com artists collective. As the duo Entropy8Zuper!, they created notable net.art projects like Skinonskinonskin and The Godlove Museum, earning the SFMOMA Prize for Excellence in Online Art in 2000. Transitioning to video games as Tale of Tales, they released influential titles such as The Endless Forest, The Graveyard, and The Path. Their game Luxuria Superbia won the IGF Nuovo Prize in 2014, and they received Indiecade's Trailblazer award in 2018. Since 2015, Michael has focused on virtual reality and Auriea on digital sculpture. They relocated from Ghent to Rome in 2019 and married in 2024.
Exhibition Partners
Water Street Projects An interdisciplinary platform dedicated to amplifying creative voices across performance, visual arts, and more, Water Street Projects operates with a fluid and expansive approach that invokes the spirit of Cedric Price’s unrealized Fun Palace—a laboratory of fun and a university of the streets.
Julia Kaganskiy As a curator and cultural strategist, Julia Kaganskiy has been at the forefront of art, science, and technology since 2009. Her work explores the intersection of these fields through exhibitions and commissions that challenge and expand our understanding of contemporary art.
Serpentine Arts Technologies A leading force in exploring the impact of technology through art, Serpentine’s Arts Technologies program fosters innovation and supports projects that navigate the intersection of art, science, and technology. Through dedicated research labs and knowledge-sharing initiatives, the program nurtures new art ecologies.
Rhizome A pioneering organization in the digital art space, Rhizome has been integral to the development and preservation of digital art since its founding. With initiatives like the 7x7 art and technology program and a longstanding partnership with the New Museum, Rhizome continues to champion digital art for all.
LINK: Group Hug @ ONX Studio
LINK: Theo Triantafyllidis
LINK: Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley
LINK: Tale of Tales
