© 2024 Macromatter, Augmundi & Cinnamon Entertainment. All rights reserved.
Plantlife Prototyping was generously supported by The Canada Council for the Arts (Canada) and Fonds Darstellende Künste (Germany)
PLANTLIFE
Plantlife is an open universe building experience, where you solve 3D transformation puzzles to build creatures and enliven a lush wild environment. In doing so, you collect pieces, discover how to animate creatures, and uncover more layers of this inviting universe. The experience accumulates to an open play space where you can build and animate creatures of your own design with your collected puzzle pieces. Your creatures become interactive characters in your own environment and can travel into your friends’ to become companions in this collaborative game play.
The Virtual Reality experience is being developed on the Oculus Quest 2 & 3 and is for creative and curious minds from age 5+.
The overall theme for the game is an idea of reuse, and developing skills to see the imaginative potential in our natural surroundings. The experience has an additional non-verbal narrative - we are spinning a new queer creation myth. As a queer and trans person Robin wants to bring an additional queer perspective to the game. As if a cultural creation myth (as in the story of Adam and Eve, the Sky People, or Pangu) we imagine offering an alternate explanation of how the universe came into being. Rather than by a benevolent religious god figure or through reproductive male+female first humans, it is one that evolves from creativity, imagination, attentiveness to your surroundings, seeing potential in organic flora/fauna shapes, and ultimately wielding one’s own power to try and re-try building identities in playful gendered or non-gendered form. While a subtle aspect of the game, this trans perspective will remain at the core of the world build.
Key ideas: repopulating a natural environment, building, spatial problem solving, seeing potential in shapes, transformation, tranquil wandering and discovery, collaborating with your environment.
Author, Art & Game Design - Robin Leveroos
System & Interactions Design, Programmer - Glenn De Cock
3D Animation & Game Design - Fons Artois
Sound Design - Genesis Victoria
Producer - Sarah D'hanens
Production Partners - Macromatter & Augmundi Studio
MACROMATTER
Macromatter is a multidisciplinary art studio creating live art and interactive experiences for all ages. Using elements of performance, animation, and handmade objects, Macromatter aims to spark imaginations and skew perceptions by exploring worlds where weight is given to the minute, the understated, and overlooked to uncover something recognisably human.
Macromatter’s mission is to create and share projects made with creativity, curiosity, and play that encourages viewers to think associatively through visual evocation. Macromatter aims to create art that is rigorous, experimental, and genre- bending, yet accessible to audiences of all ages whether visiting an arts venue for the first time or as a seasoned culture vulture.
Originating in 2014 as the umbrella studio housing the performance and design work of Robin Leveroos, Macromatter has grown to encompass a rotating team of interdisciplinary collaborators. Their live work has been presented in institutional and DIY venues around North America, Asia, and Europe. First formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, they are based in Berlin since 2020.
AUGMUNDI
Augmundi is a small Ghent based 3D studio, focused on creative games, VR, prototyping, animation, 3D printing, art direction and interactive design. Recently our main focus has been VR. As a studio, we start from a more artistic perspective, building games and connecting players to stories by immersing them in visually unique worlds.
The studio grew out of a collaboration from Glenn De Cock and Fons Artois. This collaboration was essential to take on bigger projects. From 2022 we decided to intensify this collaboration and started coworking from the same office.
Glenn is the Unity wizard of the team. Next to his own art practice he also works with 3D printers. Fons focuses on the 3D design and animation. He works part time for the studio next to his teaching job at LUCA School of Arts. There he teaches 2D, 3D Essentials and Animation.