Tactics&Practice #16: Are you a software update? – NODE #2

The 16th edition of Tactics&Practice, Aksioma’s discursive programme exploring contemporary investigative art, society and new technologies, will take place from February to June 2025, in partnership with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (UL ALUO). Are You a Software Update? interrogates how software systems govern interaction, perception, and decision-making. This year’s edition will also take place in three programme nodes at different locations in Ljubljana.

V sredo, 2. aprila, se bosta v okviru drugega sklopa tako predavanje (na Erjavčevi) kot delavnica (na Tobačni) odvila na UL ALUO. On Wednesday, 2 April, as a part of Node #2, both the lecture (at Erjavčeva) and the workshop (at Tobačna) will take place at UL ALUO.

Free entry! Registration required: https://pretix.eu/aksioma/ayasu

NODE #2

• LECTURE

2 APRIL 2025, 15.00–16.00
UL ALUO, Erjavčeva 23, Large Lecture Room

Alan Butler: Material Outcomes in the Digital Subject

In this lecture, artist Alan Butler discusses The Production of Space, a site-specific exhibition project he created for the Aksioma gallery. Building on a practice that examines the ontology of digital spatial design and video game assets, Butler explores how these digital building blocks produce reality—both online and off. He reveals how the technical creation of images and their origins can shape culture and digital space, and how digital objects can affect the physical world.

Butler will also share the theoretical perspectives informing his creative process, illuminating how a series of works emerged around the physical performativity of digital objects. By tracing the journey of these digital constructs from screen to real-world presence, he examines the interplay between virtual and real environments, and what that means for culture and image-making.

This event is additionally supported by Culture Ireland | Cultúr Éireann.

• WORKSHOP

2 APRIL 2025, 16.30–19.00
UL ALUO, Tobačna 5, Lecture Room 3

2girls1comp: I AM IN YOUR GAME – Reappropriating Game Spaces Through Texture Replacement

Textures in video games are what creates the visual identity of virtual environments, providing more than mere decoration for 3D models. They represent and shape the spaces players inhabit, embedding social and political meanings within the game.

In this workshop, participants will learn how to modify and personalize the game world of Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar, 2013) by altering its visual textures. We will explore techniques for manipulating existing textures and incorporating personal images into the virtual landscape. Through these interventions, participants will challenge and reinterpret the narratives and aesthetics defined by the original developers and game studios.

The workshop will introduce the emerging field of texture archeology and the networked community investigating the history of images such as cobble_stone.jpg. The event will explore issues of labour that lie behind computer games, as well as the hidden infrastructures beyond the game software.

Takeaways:

• gain an insight in modding as a practice for artistic appropriation
• gain a basic understanding of working with textures for 3D models in games
• have the chance to creatively and critically engage with video game culture by creating their own projects

Duration: 2,5h

Materials and knowledge required:

Images you want to insert into the game (optional)

Laptop (ideally with Adobe Photoshop installed)


Free of charge. Registration required