Supr and Rkktkk
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Yuliya Kozhemyako (supr) and Margarita Skomorokh (rkktkk)
Yuliya Kozhemyako (supr) and Margarita Skomorokh (rkktkk) are nominated for the A MAZE. Award 2020 with Overseas, a collection of 4 interactive poems. Enjoy the read and get a closer look of the auteurs behind their artistic playful media works.
A MAZE.: How would you describe yourself?
Overseas Team: We are Yuliya Kozhemyako (supr) and Margarita Skomorokh (rkktkk) — an indie game development team from Saint Petersburg, Russia, members of the artist collective IBORG (Insomniac Bears of Russian Game Development). We work separately from each other as well.
A MAZE.: Are you a wild heart? If yes, what makes you think you’re a wild heart?
RKKTKK: I think wilderness is overestimated. Still, there is one wild thing I sincerely believe in: we need to change our beliefs like socks.
SUPR: ...
A MAZE.: Why did you start making games or playful media works?
RKKTKK: I just became completely fascinated with digital media, probably because I discovered them quite late in my life. It was mind-blowing, like traveling in time.
SUPR: I wanted to create immersive interactive art suitable for remote distribution and consumption. In addition, I wanted to be independent from art institutions. The medium of video games was the best option. As it seemed to me, its full potential had not yet been realized, and no one was consciously trying to do it.
A MAZE.: Who (or what) is your biggest inspiration? Think beyond games too - musicians, writers, filmmakers, artists, scientists, ...
SUPR: Modern artists, surrealists, abstract art, etc.; procedural generation, 3D, UE4; Tale of Tales and their Realtime Art Manifesto, David Kanga. Also, Nuprahtor (a Russian artist like myself) showed me that even with “quick and dirty” techniques you can make a cool game.
RKKTKK: Tale of Tales, Davey Wreden, David Kanaga (they make me believe that games can be anything); artists and thinkers who explore pain and tragedy: Andrei Platonov, Franz Kafka, Lars von Trier, Søren Kierkegaard, etc.
A MAZE.: Where can we find this in your work?
SUPR: Everything I mentioned, of course, influences my games. La forêt from Overseas is inspired by Max Ernst’s paintings, and Lattice by Agnes Martin. The Basics of Sacred Geometry is centered around 3D graphics and Unreal Engine 4. And all these games can be called notgames.
RKKTKK: Everything we do is an experiment and exploration of what digital games can be. And there is a lot of pain and tragedy in Overseas (though it is still an optimistic game).
Screenshot of OVerseas.
A MAZE.: What message(s) are you sending out with your works?
SUPR: “The author is on drugs or something” / “You have to be high to understand it” / “Way cheaper than drugs!” (according to most of our players).
RKKTKK: “Everything is permitted.”
A MAZE.: Is there a repeating pattern in all of your works the players may experience?
RKKTKK: I like calling our works digital poetry. Most games are short and melancholic and do not have a clear goal or message.
SUPR: We often use the procedural generation of levels, NPCs, and other elements, which affects the gameplay IMO.
A MAZE.: What influences your work more: Past (history), present (contemporary) or future (scifi) and what are your sources?
Overseas Team: The present and the past are inseparable — in a sense, digital art is much older than digital computers. Certainly, they both influence us. As to the future, it is unknown.
A MAZE.: What does responsibility towards your players mean to you as an artist?
RKKTKK: I am afraid I am totally irresponsible.
SUPR: ...
A MAZE.: What impact is the current pandemic having on you and your work?
RKKTKK: Since I work from home, my life has not changed much. However, I am worried about A MAZE and the situation in general.
SUPR: Now I have an excuse for staying at home all day long (which I already do thanks to game development). Also, an episode from my new game is suddenly relevant. In this episode – I called it The Catastrophe – the feeling of panic and confusion is present, and now it is easier than ever for me to work on it.
Screenshot of OVerseas.
A MAZE.: If there is something wrong in the field of games / playful media, what would you fix first?
SUPR: I would like to see more lesbian representation in games.
RKKTKK: I cannot say I personally enjoy everything in the field of games. But games are what they are, I love them and would not change a thing.
A MAZE.: What are the three games someone who never played a game before should play? Why those?
RKKTKK: I would say Dear Esther, The Stanley Parable, and Proteus (or maybe Panoramical, depending on the tastes of the player). They are stunning and sophisticated — and at the same time very easy to play.
SUPR: Proteus / Panoramical shows the potential of sound in games. In Kentucky Route Zero, you appreciate how a game is able to work with text without being reduced to it. I would also add something that pointedly uses procedural rhetoric – maybe Passage or some games by Jason Rohrer.
A MAZE.: How do you relax and find balance?
Overseas Team: We both watch a lot of ASMR :)
A MAZE.: What are the main challenges for artists in your country to sustain themselves?
SUPR: In addition to working as an artist, you need to have a job to earn your living.
RKKTKK: For art game developers like us the main challenge is invisibility. That is why we are so grateful for the nomination.
A MAZE.: How do you see interactive arts in 10 years from now? In 2030! Tell us your vision.
SUPR: Digital art does not need much investment, its tools are becoming more available, and the number of artists grows. Perhaps, art will be getting more and more decentralized, and one day we will create it only for the circle of our friends.
RKKTKK: The ideology of the art group we belong to (IBORG) is based on the concept of 'wobbling', indicating the uncertainty of the future lying ahead of video games. Uncertainty is cool. But, of course, I hope games will be getting more and more weird.