Margarete Jahrmann is a ludic artist and artistic researcher, drawer and writer, full university professor and head of the 2021 newly founded Experimental Game Cultures department at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. As an artist and writer she regularly publishes and exhibits artworks dealing with play, the ludic method and neurosciences.

In this episode, Margarete and Severin discuss her pioneering "ludic method"—using games and play as experimental research tools to investigate everything from collective memory to brain activity to AI-generated realities. Jahrmann explains how lying on examination beds while playing cooperative card games with EEG helmets reveals that humans perceive reality differently based on social situations—even before conscious thought—and argues that games aren't just objects to study but vehicles for connecting neuroscience, philosophy, art, and technology.

GUEST

Margarete Jahrmann, is a ludic artist and artistic researcher, drawer and writer, full university professor and head of the 2021 newly founded Department EXPERIMENTAL GAME CULTURE at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. As PI she launches 2023 The Psycholudic Approach (FWF/PEEK) and led the 2021-2023 the interdisciplinary project Neuromatic Game Art: critical play with neurointerfaces (FWF/ PEEK). She curates international game art exhibitions and supports artists and researchers in projects such as 2023-2024 “NEST. XenoLudic games and nonhuman intelligence” with Tamás Páll Hollow Group. Currently, she curates international exhibitions with students for AMAZE and hosts international Ludic Method Soirées.

HOST

Severin Matusek is a cultural theorist and founder of co—matter, a creative studio exploring the cultural and societal impact of new technologies.

IDEAS AND PEOPLE IN CONTEXT

• Department of Experimental Game Cultures - First university department focused on games as artistic research tools and experimental methods, founded in 2021. https://www.dieangewandte.at/experimentalgamecultures
• Robopsy - AI-powered choose-your-own-adventure game investigating the 1936 murder of philosopher Moritz Schlick, exploring how AI models distort historical facts and collective memory through interactive storytelling. https://robopsy.mur.at
• Create (AI) - Interactive installation that harvests visitors' faces through classification systems, generates personalized drawings using AI trained solely on Margaret Jahrmann's research texts and drawings, exhibited at Spike Art Quarterly and Viennese galleries. https://mur.at/create-ai
• Neuromat Game Art Project - Interdisciplinary research collaboration (2017-2018) using EEG helmets and cooperative card games to study brain activity, social perception, and flow states during play, funded by Austrian Science Fund (FWF PEEK program). https://neuromat.mur.at
• The Tree Game - Role-playing game where participants collaboratively draw the game board while playing, exploring co-creation and emergent design. https://mur.at/tree-game
• Ludic Society (2006-2016) - Artist collective exploring play as social and artistic method, published the experimental magazine "Ludic Interface" on circuit boards, organized urban game interventions and exhibitions. https://www.ludic-society.net
• Ludic Method - Margaret Jahrmann's research approach using games and playful processes as experimental tools to investigate social phenomena, brain activity, cooperation, and alternative ways of experiencing reality. https://margaretjahrmann.com/ludic-method
• MIT Game Lab, Boston - Research laboratory exploring game design, play, and interactive media where Margaret Jahrmann was a visiting researcher. https://gamelab.mit.edu/

CREDITS

The Vienna Business Agency supports new companies, projects and products that develop Vienna's creative industries further. Find out more at viennabusinessagency.at. Editorial & Production Team (in alphabetical order): Carina Dala, Severin Matusek, Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör, Alice Smith, Heinz Wolf

Theme Music by Hell Mutang.