WHAT MAKES AN ENVIRONMENT REAL?

Workshop & Exhibition

9 – 12.12.2020
ZHdK MA Interaction Design
Work in Progress Exhibition
By Foreign Legion, Vera Sacchetti & Matylda Krzykowski
Graphic Design by Nadine Cocina


Images from Krzykowski’s and Sacchetti’s smartphones



‘We have about 8 students in the programme and they are currently working on topics such as: posthumanism, aesthetics of oil culture, artificial intelligence, hypersensitivity, addictive design, speaking cities, pollution sensing.’



How can we probe our surroundings and see what is invisible to the naked eye? How can we act and change them from within? This work in progress exhibition explores these questions as they surface in the work of eight students of the MA Interaction Design of the Zurich University of the Arts. Mentored by Foreign Legion (Matylda Krzykowski and Vera Sacchetti), students Viviana Castellanos, Nadine Cocina, Dzhuliia Kolodko, Silvia Monti, Jooin Shin, Eli Woke, Marten Limbach and Paulina Zybinska present a snapshot of their MA thesis investigations, crystallized in this moment in time and in a specifically conceived installation. 

The exhibition installation morphs into a virtual space with an homage to the Vaporwave aesthetic. Ironic, hyperbolic, surreal and nostalgic, the space becomes a dreamscape of neon colors surrounding the visitor, transporting them into another reality. Synthetic colours, deep fakes, cyberdelic mandalas, soundscapes, suggestive shapes and texture; this exhibition makes you question what it means to interact with the world and the role of technology in altering and embracing it. 

Ne plus ultra – The religious roots of Silicon Valley by Silvia Monti

Impostor syndrome – A participatory exploration in ways of synthesising fake realities by Paulina Zybinska

Sedona – An ambience that expands your sense of perception by Viviana Castellanos 

Nothing is what it appears – An exploration of our secondary experiences with personal technological devicesby Nadine Cocina



Making oldness new – Blurring the median between modern and ancient Armenian art 
by Dzhuliia Kolodko


Sensing Imperceptibles – Intuitive interfaces for sensing dangerous imperceptibles 
by Jooin Shin 


OORMSP – Assembly Guide: Offshore Oil Rig Model for Sonic Petrospectacles 
by Eli Wok