Jamie Wyld (Vital Capacities’ director): Thanks for being part of the Vital Capacities residency programme! Can you say a little about yourself and your work, perhaps in relation to what you’re thinking about doing during the residency?

Clifford Sage: I’m Clifford, a CGI artist, currently working with moving image through animation and interactive worlds.  My work is often sound-based and audio generative.  I am interested in using game dynamics in my practice and the potential of virtual world building and non- linear narrative through story-telling. My hope is to use game mechanics to generate an immersive audio experience, utilizing and experimenting with alternate timelines. 

I am inspired by the possibilities of alternate histories and narratives through our worldly encounters, and curious to explore this open-mindedness by using a common non- linear story telling technique often used in gaming.  I am also passionate about environmental issues and am interested in exploring conservation through a technology- there is a juxtaposition between these two worlds and I’m interested in the challenges of experiencing nature and caring for nature through this unlikely lens. 

JW: One of the aims of Vital Capacities is to create an accessible site (so more people can use it) – how do you think this will be an opportunity to develop your way of working?

CS: I’m keen to see people interact more with my work, I think there is a lot of potential with interaction in virtual worlds which has yet to be explored beyond a computer game sense, its a format that can be very powerful and immersive, it can be used to express many different things we might experience through other means, like reading or watching a film. 

JW: What would you like to achieve through the residency? Is there a particular project you’ll be focusing on?

CS: The project I’ll be focusing on is a continuation of areas I’ve been focusing on for some time, I made a project called Tuner and an older project called Reincarnation Disorder and I’d like to revisit and somehow marry these two projects.

JW: How do you see the next few weeks unfolding? Where would you like it to take you?

CS: I tend to get excited by grand visions of a large scale project incorporating many works I’ve done in the past, though I know this won’t be possible to achieve in one month. I hope to focus on key aspects of sound integration, and an immersive environment that can be playable and interactive.  I find it fascinating that narratives can unfold in unexpected ways, and are different each time.  I think this is a really powerful way of interacting with a story and learning about the world, more specifically our audible worlds, and I hope that this residency allows me to start exploring the possibilities of this vast digital realm. 

Go to Clifford’s studio to see what he’s working on.