Harold Hejazi is an artist whose practice involves being a performer, a game designer, and an educator – all at the same time! Hailing from Canada, his earlier practice focused on creating playful participatory performances in collaboration with the educational departments of museums and art galleries. This work motivated him to move to Finland in 2017 and attend the Theatre Academy’s Live Art and Performance Studies MA programme, where he researched game design and its affordances for a Live Art practice. Exploring the question ‘What is a Live Art Game?’ he faithfully dedicated himself throughout the years of 2018–2022 to a vigorous practice-based research regimen of rapidly prototyping performances, which combined recognisable elements of both ‘game’ and ‘Live Art’. This journey culminated in an exploration of the medium of video games for live cinematic storytelling that examines a range of social issues in Finland. Find out more at http://haroldhejazi.com/
In his talk, Harold will share the epic saga behind him becoming a master: a quinquennium packed with exciting levels to conquer, complex puzzles to solve, precarious platforms to leap across, terrifying bosses to defeat, and legendary achievements to unlock. He will graciously impart some of his wisdom and generously reveal where he found Easter eggs along the way through his adventures in Live Art Game research!