The Mycological Twist – Quadrat Sampling E-Ecologies #2: Farming Simulator Brandenburg

Part of “Play the Past – Ein Gaming-Fokus”

3.–6.11., 17:00-22:00 / HAU3: Tutorial and Gaming-Session

6.11., 20:00 / HAU4 (www.HAU4.de): Livestream

Following its journey of discovery in 2021, the Berlin-based duo The Mycological Twist once again invites audiences to join them on another journey of discovery in HAU3 for shared gaming sessions of “Farming Simulator”, which was purchased more than three million times this year in only two months. The gaming session on 6.11. will be live streamed on HAU4.

In a five-hour tutorial and gaming session, the players will spend time together with experts Aurelia Moniak and Trakal on a virtual farm in Brandenburg. The game and its environment are explored with the help of a series of field research tools that have been adapted for a digital landscape. After a shared break, in the “Gaming Session” Anne de Boer and Eloïse Bonneviot will discuss the various aspects of agriculture today and the effects of industrialisation on rural spaces in Europe following the Second World War together with the players and experts while playfully managing the farm.

Aurelia Moniak, born in 1989 in Berlin, studied nutritional sciences and agricultural management and has since been working on sustainable agriculture and agricultural communication. She has worked for various actors in the sector – between farms and industrial enterprises, between lobby groups and public media. She is on the lookout for concepts and innovations that improve agriculture for the majority and not just for a few. And this away from the common narratives that prevail in our society about agriculture. In 2022, her team at DRIVE beta won the VDAJ Communications Award for the Youtube format “Hundert Hektar Heimat” (MDR/funk).

Trakal (*1988, Dresden) is a filmmaker, writer and participatory artist based in Berlin. Through collaborative process, performative rituals, historical interrogation and psychodynamic research Trakal develops films, texts and installations. Their work deals with the personal and collective impact of neoliberal subject production, post-socialist processes and surveillance technology. Trakal’s work has been shown among others at Museum for Photography Berlin, Museum Folkwang Essen, Cinemateca Distrital Bogotá, Savvy Contemporary Berlin, Gegenwarten Festival Chemnitz, 7th Athens Biennale.