Claim Your Agency in the _Yond

What's _Yond?

The world evolves at a faster rate than our brains can adapt to. We are yet to develop new ways to help us navigate reality with omnipresent technology.

What we need is agency to take control of things and ensure that technology does not take us down some rabbit hole and milk us of our resources, nevermind our consciences.

We need self-awareness to define our relationship with technology so that it’s used to our advantage and empowerment.

The only way for a bright future is to actively shape it — it is true now much more than ever before with the infinite possibilities of technology. 

It’s down to us to define how to be an active actor in the metaverse.

Art of claiming agency

The _Yond experience viewed on Oculus Quest and Pro (released mid Oct 2022) takes you to an expansive secret garden where art and technology bloom together. 

Play with immersive patterns and use it as an inspiration to reflect on your unique role in paving the brave new world. 

Hosted during ART + TECH segment at Infinity Festival, _Yond features the ChaCha pattern by Londubh Studio, which the XR experience deconstructs in an interactive world of shapeshifting elements.

“In inviting viewers into the depths of Cha Cha, we celebrate how our crafts united us with creators from around the world to help pioneer a metaverse where humanity uses art x tech for the greater good,” say Lisa and Brynn of Londubh Studio.

Go _Yond

Londubh Studio was founded in Los Angeles in 2011 by Lisa Donohoe and Brynn Gelbard, two artists committed to freedom of expression, shifting paradigms and challenging tradition with their unapologetically maximalist work.

Nomtek was founded in Poland in 2009 by Krzysztof Choma and Peter Mezyk. Nomtek is a digital product development studio passionate about creating meaningful people-facing products. The current focus areas for Nomtek are mobile and XR apps.

“We developed _Yond as a metaphoric XR experience illustrating one of the most crucial challenges nowadays: deciding how we interact with the omnipresent technology. It’s down to us to define where we want technology to help us and where we say “thanks, but no thanks”. Only with such an agency, can technology really empower us to do so much more and so much for the better,” says Peter Mezyk, VP of Product at Nomtek.

Join discussion

The installation will be followed by a keynote session between Brynn Gelbard (Londubh Studio) & Kasia Gruszka (nomtek). The discussion is focused around "Tech Reimagining Art: Ethics and Responsibility" and will be hosted by art curator Wendy Posner (Posner Fine Art). 

"Though art and technology have long influenced one another, historically, there was no more intense moment of them blending together. With Web3 just round the corner, we are facing a challenge to retain humanity. Nothing is certain until we make it real. It is upon us all to draw conclusions from Web2 and shape a new digital future in a way that empowers people by departing from overstimulation and overcreation. Every step counts," says Kasia Gruszka, Product Strategist at Nomtek.

Explore _Yond yourself between 3-5 Nov 2022 at Infinity Festival (LA). Come and join us at our dedicated XR Activation Room (entry from the main Goya Studio square).