topic

Exhibition Activations

Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities. Transmissions from Within the Ludic Mind

Extended exhibition program, 7 May–28 Jun 2025

TOPIC CONTENT:

Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities is a call to embrace the transformative power of play. As visitors move through this experimental landscape, they will encounter new perspectives, rethink their roles in the world, and explore how small shifts in perspective can unlock vast potential for creative and collective action. Through this dynamic intersection of art, science, and play, the project offers a vision of a future defined by empathy, interconnectedness, and the endless possibilities of the ludic mind.

Presented through the lens of the Psycho-Ludic Approach (with methods by artistic research, experimental psychology and neuroscience), this exhibition challenges conventional ideas of agency, perspective, and societal structures and explore alternative motivations for play. The current global crises show that humanity's exploitation-based strategies have come to an end: conquering new worlds, accumulating possessions and winning. These strategies, which are now failing, are reflected in games and their mechanisms.

Artistic researchers:

Thomas Brandstetter, Stefan Glasauer, Clara Hirschmanner, Margarete Jahrmann, Talos Kedl, Louise Linsenbolz, Georg Luif, Stefan Maier, ­Barbi Markovic, Max Moswitzer, Fabian Navarro, Tamás Páll,­ Thomas Wagensommerer, and Experimental Game Cultures & citizen science/student/everyday life experts.

This show is informed by the research projects:

The Psycholudic Approach. Exploring Play for a viable Future (AR 787), Austrian Science Fund FWF/ PEEK. / ROBOPSY. An Artistic Exploration of Collective Memory through Role-Playing with AI Language Models (ICT23-020), WWTF Vienna Science and Technology Fund / INTRA Project NEST, by Tamás Pall, Experimental Game ­Cultures.

An exhibition by the PSYCHOLUDIC / ROBOPSY researchgroup.

workshop

15 May 2025, 15:00

Public Lab Meeting

Exhibition program: Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities. Transmissions from within the Ludic Mind

Come and play! Every Thursday (except public holidays), until 28 Jun 2025

In the weekly public lab meetings, we reflect and play together with our invited guests and experts on experimental game culture. You are invited to play games and listen to the lectures and discussions coming from our research group at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

This is a practise of our research group, which we open up for the duration of the exhibition. In 2025 we focus on the PSYCHOLUDIC APPROACH – on the exploration of play for a viable future and on ­ROBOPSY – where Robopsychology is understood as a form of role-playing in relation and (op)position to other forms of intelligence. The discourses stem from neuroscience and play, science and epistemic things, and cognitive science in a playful ‘ludic’ format – mirrored in a conceptual PLAY with data – as Ludic Art. We work on the question of how to interpret data, understand player motivation and what we can learn from this for game design that is viable for our world and democracy

Image by ©

About the exhibition:

Through a self-reflexive exhibition game, the project offers an opportunity to actively participate in the unfolding experiments. Here, individuals are not passive observers but dynamic players within a fluid system of roles: whether as "involuntary" players, NPCs (non-playing characters), agents, researchers, or as curious lovers of ludic art. The exhibition blurs the lines between audience and performer, inviting participants to step into multiple roles, shifting from one perspective to another as they engage with the work. The exhibition also introduces non-human players into the role-play, expanding the concept of agency and offering a more inclusive view of interaction. These alternative modes of play, underpinned by computational neuroscience devices and techniques, transform scientific tools into artistic expressions focusing on empathy, creativity, and participation – can become vehicles for addressing ecological and social challenges.

Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities is a call to embrace the transformative power of play. As visitors move through this experimental landscape, they will encounter new perspectives, rethink their roles in the world, and explore how small shifts in perspective can unlock vast potential for creative and collective action. Through this dynamic intersection of art, science, and play, the project offers a vision of a future defined by empathy, interconnectedness, and the endless possibilities of the ludic mind.

Presented through the lens of the Psycho-Ludic Approach (with methods by artistic research, experimental psychology and neuroscience), this exhibition challenges conventional ideas of agency, perspective, and societal structures and explore alternative motivations for play. The current global crises show that humanity's exploitation-based strategies have come to an end: conquering new worlds, accumulating possessions and winning. These strategies, which are now failing, are reflected in games and their mechanisms.

Situated within the physical manifestation of a game engine — a world-machine-conglomerate — this exhibition environment becomes a space where the playful mind engages with pressing universal issues, exploring them through experimental games. Multiperspectivity is the key concept driving this exhibition. It emerges as the first result of the experimental game series: a revolutionary game mechanic that enables rapid, unpredictable shifts in perspective. What happens when we change the lens through which we view the world? How can shifting our perspective alter the way we relate to our surroundings and to each other? Rather than seeking radical, sweeping change through traditional “revolutionary” means, we propose that change can occur situationally and continuously – by adjusting the way we see and understand things.

This mechanism, applied here in a series of playful experiments, serves as both an artistic practice and a social principle. In our increasingly fragmented world, it offers a powerful tool for rethinking everything from democratic processes to environmental consciousness.

Exhibition Opening Hours:

Mon–Fri: 11:00–18:00

workshop

22 May 2025, 15:00

Public Lab Meeting

Exhibition program: Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities. Transmissions from within the Ludic Mind

Come and play! Every Thursday (except public holidays), until 28 Jun 2025

In the weekly public lab meetings, we reflect and play together with our invited guests and experts on experimental game culture. You are invited to play games and listen to the lectures and discussions coming from our research group at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

This is a practise of our research group, which we open up for the duration of the exhibition. In 2025 we focus on the PSYCHOLUDIC APPROACH – on the exploration of play for a viable future and on ­ROBOPSY – where Robopsychology is understood as a form of role-playing in relation and (op)position to other forms of intelligence. The discourses stem from neuroscience and play, science and epistemic things, and cognitive science in a playful ‘ludic’ format – mirrored in a conceptual PLAY with data – as Ludic Art. We work on the question of how to interpret data, understand player motivation and what we can learn from this for game design that is viable for our world and democracy

Image by ©

About the exhibition:

Through a self-reflexive exhibition game, the project offers an opportunity to actively participate in the unfolding experiments. Here, individuals are not passive observers but dynamic players within a fluid system of roles: whether as "involuntary" players, NPCs (non-playing characters), agents, researchers, or as curious lovers of ludic art. The exhibition blurs the lines between audience and performer, inviting participants to step into multiple roles, shifting from one perspective to another as they engage with the work. The exhibition also introduces non-human players into the role-play, expanding the concept of agency and offering a more inclusive view of interaction. These alternative modes of play, underpinned by computational neuroscience devices and techniques, transform scientific tools into artistic expressions focusing on empathy, creativity, and participation – can become vehicles for addressing ecological and social challenges.

Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities is a call to embrace the transformative power of play. As visitors move through this experimental landscape, they will encounter new perspectives, rethink their roles in the world, and explore how small shifts in perspective can unlock vast potential for creative and collective action. Through this dynamic intersection of art, science, and play, the project offers a vision of a future defined by empathy, interconnectedness, and the endless possibilities of the ludic mind.

Presented through the lens of the Psycho-Ludic Approach (with methods by artistic research, experimental psychology and neuroscience), this exhibition challenges conventional ideas of agency, perspective, and societal structures and explore alternative motivations for play. The current global crises show that humanity's exploitation-based strategies have come to an end: conquering new worlds, accumulating possessions and winning. These strategies, which are now failing, are reflected in games and their mechanisms.

Situated within the physical manifestation of a game engine – a world-machine-conglomerate – this exhibition environment becomes a space where the playful mind engages with pressing universal issues, exploring them through experimental games. Multiperspectivity is the key concept driving this exhibition. It emerges as the first result of the experimental game series: a revolutionary game mechanic that enables rapid, unpredictable shifts in perspective. What happens when we change the lens through which we view the world? How can shifting our perspective alter the way we relate to our surroundings and to each other? Rather than seeking radical, sweeping change through traditional “revolutionary” means, we propose that change can occur situationally and continuously – by adjusting the way we see and understand things.

This mechanism, applied here in a series of playful experiments, serves as both an artistic practice and a social principle. In our increasingly fragmented world, it offers a powerful tool for rethinking everything from democratic processes to environmental consciousness.

Exhibition Opening Hours:

Mon–Fri: 11:00–18:00

workshop

12 Jun 2025, 15:00

Public Lab Meeting

Exhibition program: Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities. Transmissions from within the Ludic Mind

Come and play! Every Thursday (except public holidays), until 28 Jun 2025

In the weekly public lab meetings, we reflect and play together with our invited guests and experts on experimental game culture. You are invited to play games and listen to the lectures and discussions coming from our research group at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

This is a practise of our research group, which we open up for the duration of the exhibition. In 2025 we focus on the PSYCHOLUDIC APPROACH – on the exploration of play for a viable future and on ­ROBOPSY – where Robopsychology is understood as a form of role-playing in relation and (op)position to other forms of intelligence. The discourses stem from neuroscience and play, science and epistemic things, and cognitive science in a playful ‘ludic’ format – mirrored in a conceptual PLAY with data – as Ludic Art. We work on the question of how to interpret data, understand player motivation and what we can learn from this for game design that is viable for our world and democracy

Image by ©

About the exhibition:

Through a self-reflexive exhibition game, the project offers an opportunity to actively participate in the unfolding experiments. Here, individuals are not passive observers but dynamic players within a fluid system of roles: whether as "involuntary" players, NPCs (non-playing characters), agents, researchers, or as curious lovers of ludic art. The exhibition blurs the lines between audience and performer, inviting participants to step into multiple roles, shifting from one perspective to another as they engage with the work. The exhibition also introduces non-human players into the role-play, expanding the concept of agency and offering a more inclusive view of interaction. These alternative modes of play, underpinned by computational neuroscience devices and techniques, transform scientific tools into artistic expressions focusing on empathy, creativity, and participation – can become vehicles for addressing ecological and social challenges.

Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities is a call to embrace the transformative power of play. As visitors move through this experimental landscape, they will encounter new perspectives, rethink their roles in the world, and explore how small shifts in perspective can unlock vast potential for creative and collective action. Through this dynamic intersection of art, science, and play, the project offers a vision of a future defined by empathy, interconnectedness, and the endless possibilities of the ludic mind.

Presented through the lens of the Psycho-Ludic Approach (with methods by artistic research, experimental psychology and neuroscience), this exhibition challenges conventional ideas of agency, perspective, and societal structures and explore alternative motivations for play. The current global crises show that humanity's exploitation-based strategies have come to an end: conquering new worlds, accumulating possessions and winning. These strategies, which are now failing, are reflected in games and their mechanisms.

Situated within the physical manifestation of a game engine – a world-machine-conglomerate – this exhibition environment becomes a space where the playful mind engages with pressing universal issues, exploring them through experimental games. Multiperspectivity is the key concept driving this exhibition. It emerges as the first result of the experimental game series: a revolutionary game mechanic that enables rapid, unpredictable shifts in perspective. What happens when we change the lens through which we view the world? How can shifting our perspective alter the way we relate to our surroundings and to each other? Rather than seeking radical, sweeping change through traditional “revolutionary” means, we propose that change can occur situationally and continuously – by adjusting the way we see and understand things.

This mechanism, applied here in a series of playful experiments, serves as both an artistic practice and a social principle. In our increasingly fragmented world, it offers a powerful tool for rethinking everything from democratic processes to environmental consciousness.

Exhibition Opening Hours:

Mon–Fri: 11:00–18:00

workshop

26 Jun 2025, 15:00

Public Lab Meeting

Exhibition program: Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities. Transmissions from within the Ludic Mind

Brainwave Broadcast with Margarete Jahrmann and Stefan Glasauer

Two people laying on beds, surrounded by technical equipment to scan their brain waves while playing a computer games. | Image by ©Photo: Paul Pibernig

About this session: In the electroencephalogram (EEG) brain scans of players approved by an ethics committee of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), we collect data on game motivation and behavior - and transform it into forms of artistic expression. This results in new insights into cooperative play - and a new form of art.

In the weekly public lab meetings, we reflect and play together with our invited guests and experts on experimental game culture. You are invited to play games and listen to the lectures and discussions coming from our research group at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

This is a practise of our research group, which we open up for the duration of the exhibition. In 2025 we focus on the PSYCHOLUDIC APPROACH – on the exploration of play for a viable future and on ­ROBOPSY – where Robopsychology is understood as a form of role-playing in relation and (op)position to other forms of intelligence. The discourses stem from neuroscience and play, science and epistemic things, and cognitive science in a playful ‘ludic’ format – mirrored in a conceptual PLAY with data – as Ludic Art. We work on the question of how to interpret data, understand player motivation and what we can learn from this for game design that is viable for our world and democracy

Image by ©

performance

26 Jun 2025, 19:00

PLRG LabMeeting

Performance by Psycho-Ludic Research Group (PLRG)

Part of Angewandte Festival 2025

The Psycho-Ludic Research Group (PLRG) was formed in 2023 by Margarte Jahrmann, Stefan Glasauer, Thomas Brandstetter, Georg Luif, Stefan Maier, Max Moswitzer, Louise Linsenbolz and Thomas Wagensommerer as a vehicle for the research project The Psycho-Ludic Approach.

In a situational lab meeting setting PLRG combines physical and virtual artefacts, methods and practices, malfunctions and noise of the psycho-ludic research in a performative arrangement. PLRG wants to allow itself to reflect on its various strands of playful research and development and deep dives into an array of overlapping objects, actions, sounds and mechanics. PLRG creates a temporal space to involve, experience and feel translations of research data to pressure waves of various sorts. PLRG encourages the audience to become participants to help the group out doing so.

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Performance View: PLRG Lab Meeting

Performance by Psycho-Ludic Research Group (PLRG). Part of the opening of Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities Transmissions from Within the Ludic Mind

More infos about the exhibition

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In a situational lab setting the Psycho-Ludic Research Group (PLRG) combines physical and virtual artefacts, methods and practices, malfunctions and noise of our psycho-ludic research in a performative arrangement. PLRG wants to allow itself to reflect on its various strands of playful research and development and deep dives into an array of overlapping objects, actions, sounds and mechanics. PLRG encourages the audience to become participants to help us out doing so.

Image by ©
Image by ©

with Max Moswitzer, Stefan Maier, Margarete Jahrmann, Thomas Wagensommerer, Louise Linsenbolz, Stefan Glasauer, Georg Luif

All photos: Lea Dörl

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Exhibition View: Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities

Transmissions from Within the Ludic Mind. Exhibition from May–July 2025

By the PSYCHOLUDIC / ROBOPSY research group, PI Margarete Jahrmann (Experimental Game Cultures, University of Applied Arts Vienna)

The exhibition Monkeys, Machines, and Multiperspectivities is a call to embrace the transformative power of play. As visitors moved through the experimental landscape, they were able to encounter new perspectives, rethink their roles in the world, and explore how small shifts in perspective can unlock vast potential for creative and collective action. Through this dynamic intersection of art, science, and play, the project offered a vision of a future defined by empathy, interconnectedness, and the endless possibilities of the ludic mind.

Image by ©
Image by ©
Image by ©
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In the form of a specially developed seond- order exhibition the artists and scientists of the Psycholudic/Robopsy Research Group led by principal investigator (PI) Margarete Jahrmann (Experimental Game Cultures) observe themselves as researchers and artists in play, and interact with everyday players visiting this show. They describe and reflect on a subtle new approach to experimental game design, using the ludic method, psychophysics, cognitive psychology and neuroscience in a combination that they coin the Psycho-Ludic Approach.

What if we change the perspective of research? What if we twist research methods on ecological, political and social realities through experiences of experimental play? What happens to collective memory when we play with AI? Watch the open (game) engine of collaborations between art, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, literature and experimental game art and play. Let’s explore alternative motivations to play — to win or rather not to win!

The researchers and artists invite you to experience transmissions from inside brains in play, artistic research in experimental play, and minds in critical engagement. We challenge conventional ideas of nature, world, human, and non-human through a critical view on agency. How can we think beyond the human-centric perspective? Even if a purely rational understanding of the role of non-human beings in our world were possible, this would not satisfy our longing for a subjective and empathic sense of what it might be like to be such a being. There may be a solution that is much more deeply rooted than human culture, which has been superseded by seemingly rational practices such as research, inquiry and science. That solution is Play!

Each work of the exhibition originates from the re- search projects listed below and a few are still in the development or in process due to your participatory involvement.

Participating artistic researchers:
Thomas Brandstetter, Stefan Glasauer, Clara Hirschmanner, Margarete Jahrmann, Talos Kedl, Louise Linsenbolz, Georg Luif, Stefan Maier, Barbi Markovic, Max Moswitzer, Fabian Navarro, Tamas Páll, Thomas Wagensommerer, and Experimental Game Cultures & citizen science/student/ everyday life experts

Shown projects are an emanation of the ongoing artistic research projects:

The Psycholudic Approach. Exploring Play for a viable Future (AR 787) funded by the Aus- trian Science fund FWF/PEEK. Project Lead: Margarete Jahrmann, Experimental Game Cultures, University of Applied Arts Vienna. Partners: Brigitte Felderer, Social Design, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Matthew Pelowski, Department of Cognition, Emo- tion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Stefan Glasauer, Computational Neuroscience, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany.

ROBOPSY. An Artistic Exploration of Collec- tive Memory through Role-Playing with AI Language Models (ICT23-020) / WWTF Digital Humanities Project. Project lead: Margarete Jahrmann with Barbi Markovic and Thomas Brandstetter, Experimental Game Cultures, University of Applied Arts Vienna. Partners: Stefan Glasauer, Computational Neurosci- ence, Brandenburg University of Technol-

ogy Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany, Mark Coeckelbergh, Chair Philosophy of Media and Technology, University of Vienna, and Robert Trappl, OFAI Vienna.

INTRA research project NEST, by Támas Páll together with Margarete Jahrmann and Thomas Wagensommerer, Experimental Game Cultures.

All photos: Lea Dörl