06.09 | 18:00 (ENG-UA)

How can one experience true freedom in a world where the boundaries of action are predetermined by code? Moreover, how can these digital worlds be utilized for artistic expression? The media guerrilla collective Total Refusal invites you to explore the dynamic digital landscape of current big budget games. Together, we will navigate bustling cities and forests, engaging in discussion as we employ a shared practice of deconstructing the game's hyperrealistic mechanisms through subversive interventions. During this workshop, participants will be introduced to the various tools for artistic appropriations and get to know the genre of machinimas – movies that are directed within game engines. This experience will offer insights into the basics of filmmaking and provide a critical examination of media in relation to video games.

The pseudo-marxist media guerilla Total Refusal explores and practices strategies for artistic intervention in contemporary video games. It works with tools of appropriation and rededication of game resources. Their films and performances were presented among others at Berlinale ‘20, Locarno 22 and at the MoMA in NYC and they have received more than 46 international and national awards and honorary mentions.