Creation
Support and supervision in the technical, curatorial, and conceptual areas. Support for prototyping through collective mentoring, staged goal setting, and critical review.
Laboratori d’Objectes Lúdics
Call for projects & details coming soon
A mentoring and support programme for artists creating experimental video games, alternative controls and playful installations.
- artgames
- gameart
- altctrl
- playful art
- interactive installations
- electronic toys
- experimental games
01 · About
A laboratory of artifacts, controls, and playful experiences
Barcelona has talent and interest, but its ecosystem is dispersed: autonomous nodes without stable spaces for production, encounter, exhibition or support. The laboratory creates the conditions for these practices to meet, develop and gain visibility.
Through an integrated program of creation, support, exhibition and mediation, we support creators residing in Spain who work at the boundaries of contemporary art, interactive design, maker culture and indie development.
The laboratory was born from exhaustive fieldwork and mapping of the scene of playful and interactive creation in Catalonia, carried out through more than 45 in-depth conversations with artists, developers and cultural institutions.
Encounter
A traveling space for articulation and exchange. Monthly sessions structured through various formats: master classes, workshops, or interdisciplinary crossover activities, to connect the art and video game communities.
Mediation
Opportunities for openness and public visibility: open playtesting and the creation of spaces for dialogue with the general public. Articulation of exhibition opportunities and connections with festivals, curators, and international networks.
02 · References
So what is a playful object?
Anything made to be played with: a console, a handmade controller, an installation, an oscilloscope. These are some of the ones that make us think.
Nº 01 / 10
Line Wobbler
Bend a steel spring to dodge enemies along a three-meter LED strip.
- By
- Robin Baumgarten
- Link
- wobblylabs.com/line-wobbler ↗
Nº 02 / 10
Escalatrónico 7000
Work wooden levers to make a metal puppet climb a wall full of cracks.
- By
- Juan Becerril
- Link
- todonormal.com/pages/escalatronico7000.html ↗
Nº 03 / 10
Sneaky Snake
Hit fabric buttons with giant plush snakes to move the snake across an LED matrix.
- By
- Carla Molins Pitarch
- Link
- carlamolins.com/sneaky-snake ↗
Nº 04 / 10
Chikibi Bushibi Risibidum!
Cast a spell with your hands. Move your hands and fingers to shift vegetation and guide chicks back to their nests before snakes eat them or hunters shoot them.
- By
- Flipatron, Joanna Nieto, Paco Diago
- Link
- flipatron.org/ ↗
Nº 05 / 10
Knotboard
One keyboard, several players and a growing tangle of hands. In each round, you must press specific keys to score points while your friends try to do exactly the same.
- By
- Valentín Posadas
- Link
- talenvin.itch.io/knotboard ↗
Nº 06 / 10
Pac-Art
Eat art. Escape artists. Climb the leaderboard. Pac-Art reimagines Pac-Man as a struggle for survival within the art world.
- By
- Natalia Carminati
- Link
- drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EMmYYNop-yuYHLaOBRVAYoDufeo5e6VE ↗
Nº 07 / 10
Kangrejo
A banana is your weapon and your controller: four players survive a world overrun by frenzied crabs, between screen and table.
- By
- Aquiles T.M., Renato Meyer
- Link
- aquiles-m.itch.io/kangrejo ↗
Nº 08 / 10
Flora
An interactive ecosystem that invites you to help organisms thrive together.
- By
- Judit Castells, Mariana Pachón, Paula Jaime, Daniela Guevara
- Link
- linktr.ee/flora_electronic_garden ↗
Nº 09 / 10
Clever Cowboys Never Ever Bite That Cactus
Herd chickens and ball-cows toward a giant cactus using the «rein-o-matic».
- By
- David Rodríguez, Fernando García, Paco Diago
- Link
- drnlab.itch.io/clever-cowboys-never-ever-bite-that-cactus ↗
Nº 10 / 10
Ventilastation
The first circular videogame console, built from a fan and a strip of LEDs.
- By
- Ale J. Cura, Built by: Fernando García, David Rodríguez
- Link
- linktr.ee/ventilastation ↗
02 · Team
Who we are
01
Luján Oulton
Curating, research and cultural management
Curator and researcher specializing in experimental video games, art games, and playful art. She has extensive experience in the creation, direction, and mediation of international festivals and programs (GAIA, Now Play This, Glitch Collection, Game on! The Art in Play), promoting the circulation and sustainability of contemporary play practices.
02
Fernando García
Development and technical clinic
Software developer and creative focused on technical support, optimization, and prototype development. Specializes in translating complex artistic and mechanical concepts into viable code architectures. Curator at Glitch Collection, Founder of BCNGameCreators, and co-founder of Flipatron.
03
David Rodríguez
Development and interaction design
Software developer and interactive systems designer. Specializing in interface architecture, usability, and design of playful experiences. His work focuses on refining game dynamics and the relationship between the user, the environment, and the interactive device. Co-founder of Flipatron.
04
Miguel Sicart
Advisory board
Professor and researcher at the IT University of Copenhagen. One of the most influential international theorists of games and ethics in digital media, author of seminal works on design, games, and digital culture. With a PhD in Video Game Studies, his work focuses on the ethics of computer systems, game design, play culture, and emancipatory and experimental play practices. He is the author of reference books such as "The Ethics of Computer Games", "Play Matters" and "Jugar en el fin de un mundo". He has extensively researched the intersection of philosophy, technology, and interactive art.
05
Mónica Rikić
Advisory board
Artist awarded the National Culture Prize of Catalonia. She creates strange robots and other handcrafted electronic devices. Her work unfolds narratives that connect technology and philosophy through art, creating artefacts that act as playful yet critical theatrical devices, capable of sparking collective thought and debate. Her works are held in prominent collections and have been presented internationally at venues and events such as Ars Electronica, the Japan Media Arts Festival, AMAZE and CCCB. She combines her artistic practice with academic research and university teaching.
06
Roc Parés
Advisory board
Artist, researcher, and professor at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). A pioneer in the field of interactive art and virtual reality, he has extensive experience in university-level creative and research. With a PhD in Audiovisual Communication, his research and artistic work lies at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Co-founder of the Art and Technology research group Galeria Virtual, he has curated and promoted numerous digital culture and interactive media initiatives. His work focuses on the ethical and aesthetic potential of emerging technologies.
03 · Projects
Join the lab
03 · Projects
Your ludic object, here
The first cohort will be introduced through an open call for experimental projects and playful installations.
Project submissions available soon04 · Spaces
Partner centers and events
01
Cotxeres de Sants
Collaborative venue for meetings and mediation
Community center and multipurpose space for cultural activities in the Sants neighborhood. It will host in-person sessions of the laboratory, exchange days, and open playtesting meetings with the public.
02
Upupa
Creative and immersion residency
Rural space at Sende of innovation and creative residency. We offer the possibility of undertaking an intensive residency period focused on the production and acceleration of projects.
03
Hangar
Artistic production and research center · Orbital Group
A leading center for artistic research, free software, and experimentation with interactive media. As an Orbital Group of Hangar, LOL will host 3 in-person meetings of the lab at its facilities.