ToniZ
toniZ.ch - or forcing the virtual down the throat of the analog. It may even be understood as a design method.
toniZ.ch is oriented towards a culture of software that has been liberated from legal constraints. Crackers call software that is free from piracy protection mechanisms gamez or warez. toniZ is the attempt to free a (university) building at least a little bit from its legalistic, institutional rules and constraints. In the virtual environment imagination and subjective memories take over and offer other possibilities than reality does.
It is precisely the virtual that for years would have offered the opportunity to rethink, to reshape our environment, precisely by letting the virtual overwrite the analog.
In the case of the ToniAreal, toniZ is also the third attempt. Before that, there were constructions and 'occupations' by means of SecondLife (ca. 2007). There was also a demolition of the ToniAreal and a renaissance. All this can be seen in the virtual exhibition in the ToniZ.
Visually the whole thing comes along as a 80/90s multiplayer point & click adventure. The software was originally developed by Paolo Pedercini, Molleindustria.com (OpenSource) for an event that was no longer possible due to COVID-19 and then further developed with its own inventory or display of Youtube, links directly in the content. The software works with ProcessingJS/5p.js and with NodeJs in the backend.
ToniZ.ch is the twin of the Toni Areal, the building where the Zurich University of the Arts is housed in. With the lockdown in place in March 2020, the building was shut off completely for several months. The ToniZ.ch is a try to gain back some grounds for students and teachers. ToniZ.ch is a symbolic and ironic confrontation with the university building. Similarities with exsting institutions and people are incidental. ToniZ.ch has been designed under the auspices of GameLab ZHdK. Main Creator is René Bauer. Parts of the content and individual exhibitions have been created by Master students Larissa Wild, Emma McMillin, Leander Schneeberger, Chris Leisi u.a.
Bachelor and Master graduation celebrations were held in ToniZ.ch with all students and teachers present and able to interact with each other.
Enter here: http://toniz.ch
(Source: Author's abstract)
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