Milka Kotikova
It seems all conversations in this world are held above the water line

An interactive game installation that explores how a chosen identity affects how a person interacts with the world. A game space gradually fills with water. Within this space, the player’s task is to use their voice to stop the flooding by interacting with the environment and figures of giants. How the environment reacts varies depending on the player’s chosen identity: some actions generate a positive response and are supported, while others provoke resistance. The space’s responses are not neutral, but selective, creating variable conditions for success.

The work explores how a person’s social role influences their interaction with the world. The same scenario can unfold in different ways: characters change their behavior, and the complexity of tasks and availability of solutions change as well. Interaction is seen as a tool for survival, while differences in experiences come as systemic rather than random.

This project is based around Proteus effect, a phenomenon that describes how a person’s behaviour, and how they are seen in the eyes of others, change depending on their chosen profile picture or social role. Studies on gender asymmetry and strategic invisibility in gaming communities demonstrate that a choice of identity is often a means to adapt to a toxic environment. The installation places these observations within bodily experience, where inequality manifests itself as a hardwired feature of the system.