2018 – 2019 Luton
Throughout 2018 I worked with the Computer Science department at University of Bedfordshire to develop a video game called ‘Lutopia’ in which the player explores and creates an alternate reality ‘postwork’ version of Luton. All the content for the game has been drawn from real life, open calls and workshops with Lutonians including vulnerable and marginalised groups and people who would not normally be part of the narrative of the future of the town. Over 100 people designed characters and scenarios for the game, from young people at risk of exclusion from mainstream education, to people with dementia and their carers.
Lutopia attracted local authority and Arts Council funding and was commissioned as a lead project for Luton’s City of Culture bid pilot programme in 2019. It was showcased as part of a public event where the live gameplay was projected on to the Town Hall and used as a prompt for public discussions about what steps to building Lutopia could be taken in the here and now.
Andy Abbott / ADRA Projects 