Writer and curator Legacy Russell and artist Zach Blas will broadly discuss the engagement with and subversion of surveillance technologies, both online and AFK, as it relates to Russell’s work in her book Glitch Feminism (2020) and Blas’s expansive creative practice. This conversation is part of…

H.O.R.I.Z.O.N. Launch Festival

To celebrate the launch of H.O.R.I.Z.O.N., a series of virtual events will be hosted within the digital commune throughout the weekend of February 20–21, 2021. Download H.O.R.I.Z.O.N. to participate the day of, where the commune’s stage area will serve as the venue for these programmatic offerings including workshops, artist talks, and other activations. Programs are free, and will also be livestreamed and archived below.

H.O.R.I.Z.O.N. (Habitat One: Regenerative Interactive Zone of Nurture) by the Institute of Queer Ecology

Inspired by the ethos of utopian communities such as Lavender Hill, a queer commune established in Ithaca, New York, in 1973, H.O.R.I.Z.O.N. or Habitat One: Regenerative Interactive Zone of Nurture, is a downloadable, participatory artwork taking the form of a social simulation game. The game, in which users become inhabitants of a remote wilderness island—invites players to participate in the creation of a “digital commune.” Dotted with structures of diverse programs and aesthetics, H.O.R.I.Z.O.N.’s landscape operates as a networked, open library to which users can contribute original content for others to consume. Each location within the game’s environment houses a unique sector of content: Go to the forest to leave or pick up information on wildlife or scavenging; visit the kitchen for recipes. Inhabitants are free to roam the island, explore the architectures of the commune, and share their own contributions.