Dear Reader

Hey there,

Ayden here. It's been two months since we started this blog and I wanted to give you a little sense of what we've been up to at Odyssey Works.

Our intention with these interviews is to start a dialogue around some of the persistent themes of immersive theater, experience design and interactive games. Even though we've been working making immersive, durational performances for nearly 15 years, we still find it hard to categorize ourselves and to develop a language around our work. Many of the techniques and methods are a convergence from vastly disparate realms: performance art and game designers? Not your usual cross-pollination. Theater makers and secret societies don't exactly seem to fit together either, until you start examining some of the zeitgeists of what makes them operate in a contemporary context. 

Abe and I have been hard at work writing a book about some of the emergent themes of creative practice to examine some of the new modes of working that serve as cornerstones to these practices. Our aim with the blog interviews has been to bring together the voices of people we admire to think about some of the questions that are most important to us and that we unpack in our book. Our book is slated to be called Six Proposals for a More Beautiful World and it is these six proposals which have guided the six questions we've asked each of our interviewees. The book will serve as a handbook for artists and nonartists alike, examining what happens when we put empathy and intimacy at the heart of creative practice and human relationships.  

Design mockup for Six Proposals for a More Beautiful World by Sasha Wizansky)

Design mockup for Six Proposals for a More Beautiful World by Sasha Wizansky)

We're incredibly thrilled that Princeton Architectural Press will be publishing our book next fall. They make beautiful books that we've long admired (a personal favorite of mine is Worn Stories by Emily Spivak, and Abe uses some of their books on his syllabi). We've still got a lot of work to do on the book though- namely, fundraising. This morning, we're launching a Kickstarter to help pay for this endeavor and start building a community and conversation around the book and what we do. We would love for you to become part of that community. Stay tuned for our next interview and more exciting news. Building a More Beautiful World starts here. Join us.

Yours,

Ayden LeRoux

Assistant Director, Odyssey Works