Created by the artist Mikhail Maksimov, ‘Sanatorium «Anthropocene Retreat»’ (shortened to SAR), examines the development of anti-anthropocentric philosophical concepts in a fantasy performance where the protagonist undergoes a sequence of transformations. Re-gaining virtual consciousness after the apocalypse, in a Russian Pavilion building, your identity-fluid player has to figure out what has happened through exploration and social interaction.

So, if we start here by you just talking a bit about where you’re from and your general self. What was the first thing you thought about this morning when you woke up?

Today I woke up three times (at 4AM, 6AM and 8AM) and every time I wondered what the wolves were doing on this cheap Chinese tapestry with the wrong aspect ratio opposite my bed on the wall. Each time it was an amazing bestiary. They were either copulating half-humans or terrible slugs.

How do you perceive the evolution of your creativity? How has your work formed into what it is today?

Over time, it seems to me that my creativity becomes more attentive and bold. There is nothing to lose.

What inspired you to work with game design for the Biennale?

First it had to be a different game, a performance game, changing every day depending on what is happening in the Russian pavilion. But the infection of the planet raised completely different questions. What kind of mind will remain after the human mind? I was struck by the fragility of our species home.

How would you silhouette or summarise this project and the concept behind it?

Consolation, care, inevitability.

Can you outline the game plot for us?

Yes, sure. The SAR game examines the development of anti-anthropocentric philosophical concepts from the perspective of the classical «vergilian» road movie. The key utopian concepts of antihumanism, posthumanism, transhumanism, and technological singularity as well as the doctrines of Haraway, Latour, and Land are introduced in a magical fantasy performance where the protagonist undergoes a sequence of transformations resulting from his interactions with the other main characters. The gameplay is based on the fluid identity of the protagonist. His settings are not defined and are subject to change in function of the interactions with non-player characters. Incidentally, the game, through the temporality of the storyline, determines an answer to a vital question of the last decade: what is the exact date of the beginning of Anthropocene? That is, the epoch of significant human impact on Earth. The dating is highly speculative.

What message are you trying to communicate with Sanatorium «Anthropocene Retreat»?

The main question: What is behind the philosophy of anti-anthropocentrism?

How did designing a video game develop your creative practice?

I must say that everything interests me in art, I am fascinated by the structure of meaning, I rarely use one thing, trying to mix mediums for greater reliability. A video game for an artist is a difficult genre. The complex algorithms underlying it often make the artistic idea simpler, and the enthusiasm for technology extends the process, makes you enjoy more the actual creating and forget about the result.

In this sector of design, I assume it is possible to design all types of physical forms. Some of the characters in the game are based on the human physique, many are hybrids. What influenced the physical form that the games figures took on?

I tried not to be too distracted, there was too little time to create a game. And not all ideas were implemented. Strictly speaking, in the SAR game there is always some detached eye, it is called the eye of “God”, the eye of the observer. In an ideal video game, self-awareness, proprioceptive perception should change. Here, the story of the transformation from a non-human character through a virus into a person, from person to A.I, is more important. The way towards the end of human history.

What do you think about the debates surrounding the designing of digital figures, and do you/how do you relate to yourself to these? Particularly regarding the influence of the male gaze over this industry.

Are we talking about the game development industry? As in the film industry, the male gaze prevails. The solution is to get rid of binary sex definitions. However, I do not work in the game industry.

What are your hopes for Sanatorium «Anthropocene Retreat»? Where do you hope to take it?

For me, the most important part of the SAR project is the “Let’s Play” video, recorded with the artist and curator Nikolai Smirnov. The genre of the “Let’s Play” video is, I believe, of particular value. Sometimes I make games solely for the cause of making a “Let’s Play” recording, without releasing the computer program itself.
The music for the game was written by the famous Russian composer Vladimir Rannev. It was very interesting to work with him. Sanatorium «Anthropocene Retreat», in addition to the main plot, allows you to go through a number of exhibition spaces of the main Russian museums, where the player can get rid of stress and fatigue from art. My goal is to lighten the burden of the artist, to psychologically relax him, giving moments of reprisal over all aspects of exhibition activity. My hope is that the SAR game will fulfil this role as well.