The new game, called Lutopia, will appear in a pop-up booth, funded by Luton Arts Fund, in The Mall on 24-25 November, 12-4pm, where passers-by can test a demo version of the game using VR headsets.

Lutopia was designed by artist Andy Abbott, drawing on real life content. All the characters, places and situations in the game have been developed through workshops and from contributions from the public.

The project has been developed through Andy’s participation as a Catalyst artist on the Testbeds artist development programme through the University of Bedfordshire.

Speaking about the project, Andy said: “Luton is a fascinating place to be working on a bespoke art project, and the opportunity to make a video game is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid.

“The process of gathering content for the game through conversations, workshops and research with Lutonians is very rewarding. Although the game is set in a fantastical version of Luton, the conversations had around alternative forms of work, social policy, and how things could be managed and organised differently, are all very relevant to the ‘real world’.

“I’m hoping that by using new technologies as a fun way to engage people in potentially abstract or challenging concepts, I can spark some conversations that lead to community empowerment and concrete change. Each sharing is a step closer towards making Lutopia a reality!”

The University’s Executive Dean of Academic Partnerships Prof Helen Bailey said: “We are delighted that Andy’s game has reached the stage where the people of Luton can try it themselves and see the town in a new light.”

Ideas for characters, places and situations can be submitted at lutopia.co.uk, where a text based demo version of the game is also available to play.

Notes for editors:

Andy Abbott:

Andy Abbott is an artist living in Bradford, Yorkshire. He works across media and disciplines, often engaging with audiences as co-producers of the work they will experience. He has over 15 years’ experience working internationally in public practice and in 2012 was awarded a practice-led PhD in socially engaged art from University of Leeds.

Andy’s previous projects have involved fantastical guided walks of post-industrial areas in Leeds and Bradford; recreating a pub in which to discuss notions of artistic independence for Tate Modern; a series of ‘Festival of Pastimes’ celebrating amateur and spare-time activity in towns and cities in Northern England celebrate; creating a portable pyramid that gathered and shared people’s ideas on ‘Hidden Wakefield’; and a collaborative Postwork Utopia generated by distributing postcards in Istanbul.  More recent projects have used Virtual and Augmented Reality, consumer technology and 360 video to create immersive alternative experiences of place, including a guided walk of Oxford based on what residents imagined the buildings would say if they could speak.

In 2018 Andy was accepted on to University of Bedfordshire’s Testbeds Artist Impact Accelerator programme, which is supporting him to develop ambitious work, develop new collaborations with Computer Scientists, and hone his artistic research.

Testbeds:

Testbeds is informed by current entrepreneurship practices in the commercial start-up and technology industries. By immersing artists and creative practitioners in a University-led hothouse for creative innovation, testbeds pushes them to consider the social, economic, environmental and technological contexts that impact their work. Ideas incubation, partnership creation and business skills-development all aid artists in considering their practice in entrepreneurial contexts to inform new creative businesses.

Artists explore their practice in the context of the placemaker in Luton: examining how their work can help shape and define this super-diverse town. Testbeds positions Luton as the centre for the creative industries in Bedfordshire. It cultivates a thriving economy in Luton and enables artists to build successful creative enterprises that benefit Luton economically, creatively and socially.

Testbeds brings choreographers, musicians, designers, theatre-makers, visual artists and writers together in a collaborative incubator for arts innovation. Artists of all backgrounds will significantly increase their capacity to affect real change on the community of Luton and work as placemakers, global citizens and catalyst for change.

Luton Arts Fund:

Harnessing Momentum, the 10 Year strategic vision for the arts, cultural and creative industries is a vision that builds on the strengths of the local cultural scene and aims to make Luton an inclusive, flagship place of culture.

To support this strategy, the Luton Arts Fund will enable artists and arts organisations to be ambitious, creative and imaginative in the delivery of projects that help achieve Harnessing Momentum.

The fund is generated through contributions from Luton Council, Luton Culture, Arts Council England, University of Bedfordshire and Capital and Regional. It is an open and accessible fund available to individuals, organisations or collectives and helps breaks down the barriers to arts funding.