Sammy Lee and Sarah Shin
Mirror I: The Sea
Mirror I: The Sea
Sammy Lee and Sarah Shin
Friday 4 November (4pm - 7pm) + Saturday 5 November (10am - 5pm)
At Porthkerry Park Forest Lodge, Barry
Commissioned by SWAY, writer Sarah Shin and artist Sammy Lee have collaboratively created Mirror I: The Sea, the prologue to a video game drawing upon water symbolism, dreams and speculative mysticism.
Mirror is a journey through a mythical world of correspondences, and it begins by awakening within a dream within a Book of Dreams. Here, the nested narratives of the game must be navigated by developing magical consciousness and a relational worldview. Through a series of encounters with other-than-human languages, doubles and Oracles, Mirror is played across three interrelated levels, beginning in the Sea, then travelling up the Mountain and finally the Sky.
On Friday 4th November (5pm - 7pm) and Saturday 5th November (10am - 6pm) you’re invited to step into and play Mirror I: The Sea, at Porthkerry Park Forest Lodge in Barry. The gameplay is 15 minutes and you may notice sounds and landscapes from our coastline, as the prologue has, in part, been inspired by a visit the artists made to Barry earlier this year. The journey to the origins of the world begins with a departure from this one.
Wedi’u comisiynu gan SWAY, mae’r sgwennwr Sarah Shin a’r artist Sammy Lee wedi cydweithio i greu Drych I: Y Môr, rhagymadrodd i gêm fideo sy’n archwilio symboliaeth dŵr, breuddwydion a chyfriniaeth ddamcaniaethol.
Taith drwy fyd mytholegol o gyfatebiaethau yw Drych, a’r cychwynbwynt yw deffro mewn breuddwyd* o fewn Llyfr o Freuddwydion. Yma, mae’n rhaid canfod llwybr drwy naratifau ddodwyog y gêm drwy feithrin cydwybod hudolus a bydolwg perthynol. Drwy gyfrwng cyfres o gyfarfyddiadau gyda ieithoedd mwy-na-dynol, dyblau ac Oraclau, caiff Drych ei chwarae ar draws tair lefel rhyngberthynol, gan ddechrau yn y Môr, cyn dringo’r Mynydd a gorffen yn yr Awyr.
Ar Ddydd Gwener 4 Tachwedd (5pm – 7pm) a Dydd Sadwrn 5 Tachwedd (10am – 6pm) fe’ch gwahoddir i gamu mewn a chwarae Drych I: Y Môr, yng Nghaban Coedwig Parc Porthceri yn Y Barri. 15 munud yw hyd y gêm ac efallai y byddwch yn sylwi ar synau a thirluniau o’n harfordir, gan fod ymweliad yr artistiaid â’r Barri’n gynharach eleni wedi ysbrydoli’r rhagymadrodd. Mae’r daith at y dechreuad yn cychwyn drwy ymadael â’n byd ni.
*breuddwyd (bray-thoo-eed) - dream
Sammy Lee is a London-based artist, formerly known as Universal Assembly Unit. She is drawn to the total experience of digital media, employing virtual systems, film, game engines, sound and light to create otherworldly realities that alter states of consciousness. She was recipient of the Tate St Ives Winter Light Commission 2021 and public commissions at Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre, MUTEK Festival, London Design Festival, Roundhouse and Nuit Blanche Paris.
About the Artists
Sarah Shin is a writer, publisher and curator whose work includes making books, texts, gardens, games, scents, spaces, portals and practices. She co-founded Ignota, a creative publishing and curatorial house exploring consciousness, technology and healing, and Silver Press, the feminist publisher. She is also the founder of New Suns, a curation and storytelling project, which began as a literary festival at the Barbican.
Porthkerry Country Park's Forest Lodge is a log cabin in Porthkerry Park - 220 acres of woods and meadowland in a sheltered valley leading to a pebble beach. Next to the lodge there is a small car park (charging £1 for 2 hours), a cafe, and public toilets. If you’re travelling by train, the lodge is a 30 minute walk from Barry Train Station. Please note - sunset will be at 4:40pm on Friday 4th November, and as there is no lighting in the park, it will be dark as you travel through the park to the lodge.
About the Venue
SWAY is a collaborative project in Barry, tethered to the town’s hyper-tidal waters. Between an estuary and the sea, Sway proposes collective conversations on attachments, entanglements, communing and collective-making across the local landscape. Sway is curated by Louise Hobson and the project is supported by the Arts Council of Wales.