“The Zium Garden (2018)” by Alivia Horsley, Belinda Zoller, Benjamin Gattet, Benjamin Vedrenne, Charlie Stone, Charlit Floriano, Chris Chappelear, Colorfiction, Daniel P. Lopez, Dziff, Dorian Beaugendre, Easton Self, Emily E. Meo, Eric G. Juvillà, Everest Pipkin, Gabriel Koenig, Gabrielle Genevieve, Gaël Bourhis, Gigoia Studios, Ickypatchi, Indiana Jonas, Ivan Notaros, Izzy Gramp, Jason Sutherland, Jonatan Van Hove, Joost Eggermont, Kai Chuan, KTRON-8, Katherine Diemert, Keane Ng, Leon Denise, Matthew Keff, Menno Wittebrood, Michael Berto, Michel Ziegler, Moshe Linke, Nicholas O’Brien, The Nomi, Paul Lancelot, Pol Clarissou, Quinn Spence, RavenWorks, Richard Walsh, Rick Gillis, Rick Hoppmann, Rob Fichman, Ryan Trawick, Space Backyard (Alessandro Arcidiacono, Gianluca Pandolfo, Maddalena Grattarola & Simone Tranchina), Studio Oleomingus (Dhruv Jani & Sushant Chakraborty), Titouan Millet, Tom Kitchen, Tom Victor, Torfi Asgeirsson, Veronica Graham, Whacktastic Bear, Xavier Ekkel, Zenuel, Karolina Koryl & Tanja Mölholm.
“[A museum exploration game] filled with artwork and installations from artists around the world, working in various mediums and styles.”
Yesterday I recommended you “The Zium Museum (2017)”, so it just feels natural to me to show you “The Zium Garden (2018)” today. The core concept is pretty much the same: You are a visitor of a digital museum-like place, which presents all kinds of artworks by a lot of folks. While the 2017 game featured forty-one artists, the title published in 2018 presents the amazing efforts by sixty-three creative minds. Most of them were not involved in the first project, so you can be sure to see and experience much new stuff.
Of course, the number of collaborators is not the only thing that changed. On the one side, the creators added new types of involved media. While “The Zium Museum (2017)” already presented sculptures, drawings, paintings, interactive scenes as well as small installations, you can now also watch two short films (one hilarious fake infotainment movie about the origins of the Valentine’s Day and another one about making footprints with soap). That may sound like a minor detail, but it truly is a wonderful addition. Also, the amount of the interactive scenes, which are now called realms, has risen up noticeably.
The much bigger change on the other hand is the choice of setting. While “The Zium Museum (2017)” was actually a virtual building, where you could go upstairs and down again to another floor, “The Zium Garden (2018)” presents you a broad garden to explore. This makes it not as clearly structured as its predecessor, but also a bit more special in my mind, as you will find something new and even surprising in each corner.
For example, there is a face floating in the sky which will start speaking, causing its particles to ‘explode’ right to the rhythm of the words. Or maybe you would like to take a ride on a couple of carousel horses instead? There is also the possibility that you want to grab some camera replica and rotate them in your hands, as you take a closer look. How about jumping into the shiny skeleton of a giant fish? And if you just want to relax and perceive some beautiful drawings, that is okay too. It is your trip to this fabulous museum garden, after all, and you should enjoy it your own way. [PLAY]
