QUAD is thrilled to present the work of Petra Szeman and their exhibition ‘Towards a New Monomyth’ in QUAD Extra Gallery Spaces, which introduces the viewer to animation and game-like landscapes, using a virtual version of themself as a protagonist journeying through animatic realms, they explore liminal spaces and threshold situations, looking to dissect the ways our memories and selves are constructed within a landscape oversaturated with fiction.

In narratology*, the ‘monomyth’ or the ‘Hero’s Journey’ refers to stories in which the main character departs off to an adventure, enters an alternative space to the world of mundane daily life, then at the end returns to the starting point with knowledge of the Other, the alternate world of adventure.

This Other – whether it be the literal Underworld as it is in many stories, or for us in the contemporary world, the virtual realms of games, screens, and social media – presents as a discrete entity removed from the regular flow of life. ‘Towards a new monomyth?’ questions whether this is a possibility in the here and now, where the shape of the world has moulded itself to fit onto the slick screens of our many devices, advertising surfaces and screens in the city, the avatars we use and games we play.

*Narratology: the branch of knowledge or criticism that deals with the structure and function of narrative and its themes, conventions, and symbols.

Artist Bio:

Petra Szemán is a BA Fine Art graduate from Newcastle University (2013-2017), and has exhibited since at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, NTT Inter Communication Centre in Tokyo, as well as various galleries across England, Continental Europe and East-Asia. After spending two years in Japan, developing a body of work as a recipient of a research scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education and Culture (2018-2020), Petra is now based between North-East England and Tokyo, Japan. They’re the co-author/editor of WEEB THEORY, a book about the overlapping area between artists’ moving image, games and anime (published by Banner Repeater, London 2023). Petra is a lecturer in the Fine Art department at Newcastle University.

Petra Szeman is QUAD Digital Participation Artist in Residence. This exhibition is generously funded by Arts Council England and Derby City Council.