Aleks Slota

As an artist my multidisciplinary practice mainly consists of performance and sound, presented in both art spaces and the public sphere. The work addresses the construct of the public persona, the cult of personality that often results, and the underlying motivations of such individuals. I also attempt to disarm systemic and interpersonal violence by mocking it and deploying absurd artistic strategies against it.

During the Covid pandemic, due to the lack of performance opportunities, I was forced to expand my understanding of audience participation. I started to consider alternative ways of creating experiences for viewers, looking for a medium where I would define the score but the user was free to experience it at their own pace and to follow their own path. This interactive 3D project grew out of my research, combing sound I composed with self built environments that all relate to dreams I’ve had, a recurring nightmare being the starting point of the whole experience.

‘Place I Can’t Go’ mimics a computer game and follows the standard WASD/mouse look control scheme of most first person shooters; the user sees the world through the eyes of the protagonist. The project is a complete experience that can be downloaded to the end user’s personal computer. I’m exploring ways to port this project into virtual reality

The project was supported by the Deutscher Künstlerbund e.V. Neustart Kultur grant.