Léa Coquoz and Manu Wirth

Manu Wirth and Léa Coquoz are nominated for the A MAZE. Awards 2020 with their immersive interactive installation Uncurtainty. It is two player experience seperated by a real curtain. We’ve asked 15 questions. Enjoy the interview!

Manu Wirth and Léa Coquoz

A MAZE.: How would you describe yourself?
Manu: I seldom describe myself. Maybe I would just use a few words.
Léa: I am basically a silly witty sunflower. 

A MAZE.: Are you a wild heart? If yes, what makes you think you’re a wild heart?
Manu: No.  
Léa: I would say I’m an artichoke’s heart. That’s a French expression meaning you fall in love easily and so do I. Everyday, with too many things. Is it wild ? Maybe in a way, but I am definitely a sweetheart.

A MAZE.: Why did you start making games or playful media works?
Manu: Because I think playing is a competence which gets more and more neglected. I want it to be part of everyday life and finding possibilities to play behind each and every corner.
Léa: When the time to choose a field came, I struggled deciding between something technical or artistic, there isn’t one I like less. My goal was to find a way to reconcile those two and utilise both. Game Design was the ideal choice.

A MAZE.: Who (or what) is your biggest inspiration? Think beyond games too - musicians, writers, filmmakers, artists, scientists, …
Manu: All the great scientists. Newton, Einstein, Tesla, Curie, … They all invented amazing stuff. I want to invent amazing stuff for games too.
Léa: No rules there. When you fall in love you don’t choose with who/what. Same here, so a bit of everything. But music and science are two side-passions if you ask. 

A MAZE.: Where can we find this in your work?
Manu: I think you can see that in my work, as I try to mix a lot of mechanics together to create something new. Our project UNCURTAINTY for example works with a special interactable = the fabric.
Léa: You can see it in the variety of them. None looks like the previous. It’s maybe because I’m still in my beginnings, but I doubt it will unify.

A MAZE.: What message(s) are you sending out with your works?
Manu: Don’t forget, that there are more ways to play than just clicking or hitting the keyboard. Open up all your senses for playful experiences! They can be even only in your mind.
Léa: “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo … and it’s worth fighting for.”

A MAZE.: Is there a repeating pattern in all of your works the players may experience?
Manu: I think I just do not have yet created that many works to say yes. So: no.
Léa: The “light-heartedness” probably. Not necessarily in an obvious way, but I just don’t like tortured and dark stuff. I want my work to bring joy.

Photo Of Uncurtainty.

A MAZE.: What influences your work more: Past (history), present (contemporary) or future (scifi) and what are your sources?
Manu: At the moment I think my work is influenced by many things. I am sucking up all the possibilities, which gets from time to time even a bit overwhelming. I couldn’t tell, which is influencing my work more or less right now.
Léa: Present. Although all three indirectly influence us I believe. Sci-Fi is that shiny yet scary thing ahead so I never really know how to handle it. Past is an incredible data you can look back to, but it’s risky, because it’s tempting to follow the paths already mapped out. 

A MAZE.: What does responsibility towards your players mean to you as an artist?  
Manu: I think I owe them, to create accessible and understandable moments with a great experience. They also must have the freedom to think and find different ways to experience what I intended them to. Only when I manage to leave space for intrinsic motivation, the game can have an impact.
Léa: Staying true to what I have in mind and presenting to them a product I am proud of. I am responsible for the quality.

A MAZE.: What impact is the current pandemic having on you and your work?
Manu: I am still studying and the school managed quite well to swap the courses to online courses. So considering “work” it still flows, I think. I miss the opportunity to just randomly pass by colleagues’ workspaces and have a chat / ask stupid questions / playtest a new prototype / …
Léa: We hear a lot “it’s the perfect occasion to get productive, creative and do amazing things”, but actually this situation is more of a party-pooper in my head. It got hard to focus on my work. The ideas are missing since my mind is busy thinking about the situation. But I try to take it easy and do some self-care :) 

A MAZE.: If there is something wrong in the field of games / playful media, what would you fix first?
Manu: I think it has to expand more into other areas of everyday life. I think things can be done in a very playful way, but the current situation is still quite limited. Games have to be everywhere and for everyone, not just for the gamers.
Léa: I just wish it continues growing and expanding, keeping its variety and richness.

Photo of the Uncurtainty Setting.

A MAZE.: What are the three games someone who never played a game before should play? Why those?
Manu: The classic Super Mario. It is history and it still contains the mechanics of so many games. Participate in any team sport game (for a longer period). The dynamics of being part of a team, the joy and the frustration, the growth in competence and the positive effect on your fitness are definitely worth experiencing. Play “Far – Lone Sails”. It is one of my first experiences of a Swiss game in general and it is quite recent. I really love the feeling it creates while playing.
Léa: GRIS, to be blown away by the aesthetics, music and emotions put into it. Minecraft, can’t go wrong with a classic. Cluedo, another classic. Those 3 games are quite intuitive and easy to learn. One is solo, one solo/online-multi and the last is local-multi. In one you’re told a story, in the second you create it and in the last you search what is the story. I just think this selection offers a good variety of gaming modes.

A MAZE.: How do you relax and find balance?
Manu: I love playing Volleyball – especially Beach Volleyball. So my spare time is running around in the sand and chasing a ball. I also love to make music and lose myself in hitting the keys.
Léa: Usually it is the weekly rehearsals with my concert band, I’ve played the flute for 10 years. However those last weeks watching Ghibli movies while painting or cooking dumplings is a treat.

A MAZE.: What are the main challenges for artists in your country to sustain themselves?
Manu: I think the main challenge is, that there is no bigger industry here around. As a Swiss game designer you have to go abroad to work for an established studio or you found your own start-up. But I think this is changing a lot lately, as more and more game designers decide to stay in Switzerland.
Léa: The part of Switzerland I’m living in is still quite rural and art is struggling to get recognised as much as other parts of the country. I guess the challenge is to find local opportunities, which are very few yet. But from the moment you start moving a bit, you see more and more occasions to create the opportunity yourself.

A MAZE.: How do you see interactive arts in 10 years from now? In 2030! Tell us your vision.
Manu: No matter what, the virtual space will still be growing and the field of interactive art will have to keep that in mind. Merging virtual with real space and how to interact or even shape it, is going to be their main task.
Léa: Not a fortune teller, but what I can say is it’s going to be AMAZING!