We were really pleased to be part of this year’s Wakefield Literature Festival hosted by BEAM. The festival now in its fourth year, has grown significantly into a vibrant 10 day programme with a diverse range of literature based events, talks and masterclasses.

Our talk Uncovering Digital Fiction was a great opportunity to share our latest game like narrative project WALLPAPER with a mixed and very interested audience. WALLPAPER tells the story of a man whose elderly, widowed mother has recently died, and he returns to the remote and historic family home to sell the property. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the man has an additional agenda: to discover the secret history behind a room he was never allowed to enter as a child, and which has remained locked until now.

Postcard for Wakefield Literature Festival

It’s been 16 years since One to One Development Trust’s Dreaming Methods project started developing stories, often interactive, with a range of digital media, and always highly atmospheric. Many of our audience had never seen ‘literature’ presented like this and we told the story of our own evolution into this creative practice.

As well as the history of our own work including Inside, Joyride, Clearance and Nightingale’s Playground, and on-going collaborations like Pluto and Inanimate Alice, we talked about several projects that really show how this genre is progressing as an art form in its own right; our examples included PRY by Danny Cannizzaro and Samantha Gorman, and Sunset by Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn.

It was exciting to share the creative process of WALLPAPER with our audience, from its inception as an idea, through to how we secured funding from the Arts Council and its significance as part of a research project, Reading Digital Fiction, with Sheffield Hallam University and Bangor University. Our talk included what inspired WALLPAPER and the story behind the story. The presentation was a vibrant mix of screen shots and video clips documenting the making of the project, giving an insight into the technology, development process, characters and storyline.


Teaser for WALLPAPER, shown at the event

As the creators/authors/producers of WALLPAPER it was a good opportunity to reflect on our own creative journey, the decision to create a digital narrative for a bespoke gallery installation and a digital interactive space, not just confining it to the usual multi-platform options.

The feedback from our audience was encouraging and exciting, many keen to see the project in its installation as well as on computers and devices.

WALLPAPER opens at Bank Street Arts Sheffield on November 12th.
Find out more here

Feedback:

“Very interesting and inspiring, would like to use this in school.”
“Wallpaper – what a fantastic premise for a story! Can’t wait for the launch at Bank Street.”
“A way of thinking about literature that I had never considered.”
“Brilliant explanation of digital fiction, I’m so excited. I want a go!”
“Wonderfully presented, something especially difficult for many creatives.”
“Mega-interesting.”
“Wallpaper has stretched my mind.”
“Very interesting concept. Like the use of the amorphous use of the written word. Scenes are very atmospheric.”
“So layered and exciting.”
“Really enjoyed the presentation. Can’t wait to see it in Sheffield, very interesting!”