Department of Interfaced Dimensions (D.I.D)
A collective XR experiment on identity, control, and group dynamics
Department of Interfaced Dimensions (D.I.D) is an interactive mixed-reality experience that intertwines digital game mechanics with physical props and virtual worlds. The work invites participants to enter alternative realities and repeatedly switch roles: sometimes observer, sometimes manipulator, sometimes co-player. This creates a web of surveillance, interaction, and cooperation that raises questions about identity, agency, and control. Instead of leaving participants isolated in a VR environment, D.I.D focuses on collective experience. It centers on human interaction, group dynamics, and empathy aspects, which become tangible through the interplay between virtual layers and kinetic objects. The work was developed as part of the Realities in Transition 2024 residency at V2_ in Rotterdam by an international team consisting of Mihai Gui, Silvana Callegari, Merve Sahin, Lam Lai, Eirini Lampiri, Annika Boll, and Gökay Atabek. A first version was presented there in August 2024 at TEST_LAB: REALITIES IN TRANSITION SIMULACRON-3.
There is one slot per hour for up to four people, starting at quarter past the hour.
V2_, Lab for the Unstable Media, is an interdisciplinary center for art and media technology in Rotterdam, Netherlands. V2_ presents, produces, archives, and publishes research at the intersection of art, technology, and society. Founded in 1981, V2_ provides a platform for artists, designers, scientists, researchers, theorists, and software and hardware developers from various disciplines to discuss their work and share their findings. In V2_’s view, art and design play an essential role in the social embedding of technological developments. V2_ creates a context in which questions about the social impact of technology are explored through critical dialogue, artistic reflection, and practice-oriented research.
Gökay Atabek is an artist and founder of Vølksamt!, a collective that challenges conventional art forms and advocates for intermedia art and experimental music.
Annika Boll is a digital artist specializing in 3D game design, creating ghostly representations of real materials through 3D scans.
Eirini Lampiri is a Creative Director in Bristol, focusing on materiality and virtuality in films and immersive experiences, and is committed to inclusive digital futures.
Lam Lai is a composer and music theatre maker based in The Hague, who integrates theatre into electronic music to explore the societal impacts of technology.
Merve Sahin is a spatial designer in Vienna, co-founder of space a.tonal, and a finalist in the EU-Mies Awards, speculating on urban anonymity and privacy.
Silvana Callegari is a media artist and XR specialist, with international awards and exhibitions, who explores the intersection between new media, the paranormal, and posthumanism.
Mihai Gui is an artist in Rotterdam who uses digital and analog media to address social issues. He is a graduate of AKV St. Joost and received a grant from the Mondriaan Fund in 2017.