Echoes of Rebellion: Myths and Machines

This interactive installation aims to unlock the hidden layers of history, revealing recurring patterns and events. It envisions a dynamic space where history, technology, and ecology intersect, reimagining history as a black box and revealing the cyclical nature of sociopolitical and economic forces through the lens of Užgavėnės festival. Here, the mythic and the real coexist, prompting reflections on our future. The installation invites visitors to a live performance where they choose a character and a century to explore. Then, the Artificial Intelligence Dungeon Master guides the visitor through an interactive story, integrating real-time text, image, and video generation. The narrative unravels thorough many parallel lines each occupying a different screen and showcasing both semantic contents and the operation of the AI itself, thus highlighting the simultaneous nature of reality, interconnectedness of human lives, historical patterns, and technological progress. A full gameplay takes up to 20 min to explore. Visitors are encouraged to take time for the experience to fully unravel. While the installation is designed for a single player, but groups of people can also play, collectively choosing actions or playing in turns. Entire narrative, possible interactions and characters found in the artwork are fully based on Lithuanian mythology. This blend of contemporary aesthetics, D&D-style gameplay, and ethnographic research turns the artwork into a playful way to engage with pagan traditions which often remain unnoticed in Lithuanian media art.