Lost Horizons: Constructing a Fiction of Knowledge

Abstract

This extended abstract will map connections between psychogeographical practices and artistic practices which use video game engines to construct virtual reality spaces – from the dual position of both academic and of artist/technologist working directly with virtual reality 3D game design and development. I will explore aesthetic and technical strategies for world-building through a case study of the development of the work Lost Horizons (2022), an immersive artwork which constructs a fiction of knowledge by experimenting with the juxtaposition of different perspectives and framing in order to produce a poetic immersive experience. Central to the work is the act of seeing and a poetic sense of space. Amidst the act of wandering alone in an uncannily empty public space, there is the possibility for personal worlds, imagined pasts and futures, and alternative constructions of knowledge.