
Kunst & Kultur
Kunst & Kultur
Creating Space-Based Narratives, the User Journey, Metaverse(s)
WHEN:
20th and 21st February 2025
both days 10 am – 4 pm
WHERE:
XR LAB in the Forum of the Future / Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1 MUNICH
If you like to participate, please register here.
We will explore how various cultures, from prehistory to the present, have employed space-based narratives to embed stories, symbols, and forms of knowledge—astronomical, historical, medicinal—within immersive environments, often using sacred geometry as a unifying principle.
Examples range from Baroque churches and Buddhist temples to more ancient sites like the Chauvet Cave. We will trace the evolution of theater from fully immersive ritual spaces, like the Lakota sweat lodge, to the manifestation of the stage, from shadow puppetry, in India, to the Theater of Dionysus in Athens.
We will consider how user experience, design, and interaction transfer to our everyday spaces, such as libraries, banks, hotels, and the shopping mall. We will also look at how contemporary artists, like Tino Sehgal and Punchdrunk, hack pre-existing space-based narratives.
Commercial immersive spaces will also be considered, from Disney World, in Florida, to Las Vegas, where Omega Mart by Meow Wolf will soon live alongside Felix & Paul Studios’ Interstellar Arc, a 20,000-square-foot installation set to open in fall 2025. Finally, we will consider how all of these elements converge within the metaverse, spanning both online platforms and virtual reality headsets.
Mika Johnson is a multimedia artist based in Prague, specializing in immersive storytelling that blends technology, mythology, and ritual, with a focus on multisensory engagement. Since 2018, Johnson has focused on creating traveling installations that integrate VR, spatial audio, projections, and other interactive mediums.
His notable works include VRwandlung, a virtual reality adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis; The Infinite Library, an exploration of oral storytelling and biodiversity; and The Republic of Dreams, a sonic installation inspired by the dreamscapes of Bruno Schulz. Collectively, these projects have been showcased in over 100 installations worldwide, earning acclaim for their ability to engage audiences on both intellectual and sensory levels.Johnson’s latest project includes Theta Noir: a performance art project that uses multi-platform storytelling, speculative counter-myths, and ritual to challenge dominant AI narratives.