Immersive Experience

An immersive experience to be experienced by participants. The following are examples of what this could be:

1. An escape hunt

2. A gamification experience

3. A scaled back experience of an Immersive performance with a discussion afterward.

The Edge is exploring the third option with the work 'Library for the end of the world' by Sarah Winter.

A library for the end of the world

Here are the past iterations of this work:

http://www.metroarts.com.au/posts/library-end-world/

https://vimeo.com/102200407

Preparation

We worked with the artist to identify which work of theirs would best suit the Apocalypse program. We discussed having a focus on personal apocalypse due to the rest of the programming being more about community and larger apocalypse experiences so far. We met in person a number of times to nut out the work as well as work on where at the edge it would take place.

Recommendations

Further Learning

Examples of immersive works:

Post discussion

The artists involved (Sarah and Jono) lead a post experience discussion with the group. Questions such as:

- how did you find the experience?

- were you emotionally engaged? why or why not?

The artists also provided background to creating the work and shared experiences from previous iterations.

End

Reflection

It was so fantastic to see 12 diverse individuals turn up last night (full capacity). There were gamers (who had never experienced an immersive work before) some library staff, an older lady and some other younger people and 2 studio G boys. There was even a baby! A great mix.

Everyone was happy to stay and wait for others to finish the experience to then chat about it all together. Comments that were mentioned:

- At times I wondered if I was going the correct way or heard the instruction. I had thought of a memory to record and then when i got to the desk another memory was triggered and I recorded that one instead. I didn't think my memory was big enough. The experience re framed my experience of the building (which i think of as a work place). I couldn't stop thinking about apocalypse.

I think that offering these kind of diverse experiences are so important. Being taken out of the everyday and looking at the world slightly different and discussing the experiences with other. I really saw this in action at this evening.

Evaluation

Pre

33% have been coming for over 12 months

25% it will be first time

50% came because they like game nights

25% came because they were interested in apocalypse

33% prob not connected

16% very much so connected

16% Somewhat connected

Post

12 people attended (capacity) 7 completed the survey

42.86% have been coming to the edge 1-6 months

57.14% over 12 months

Community Development

Do you feel connected to The Edge community?

28.57% probably not connected

57.14% somewhat

14.29% very much so

Cultural participation

Did you feel engaged by the book club?

14.29% probably not

71.43% somewhat

14.29% very much so

Community Development

Did you have a conversation with someone new?

42.86% somewhat yes

57.14% very much so

Accessing Resources

Did the games night feel inclusive?

57.14% somewhat yes

42.86% very much so

Idea building

28.57% prob not

28.57% not sure

28.57% somewhat yes

14.29% very much so

Photos