Paradoxical Realities: Embodying cultural and storytelling concepts in an Interactive Digital Narrative

This presentation outlines a practice-led, artistic research project that asks: What is the potential of an interactive digital narrative in exploring the interplay between story elements to examine the boundaries between reality and imagination within the framework of Realismo Maravilhoso? The design outcome, Saints of Paradox, is designed as a printed picture book that can be expanded through the use of AR (Augmented Reality) technology. The book’s structure allows for the reading of different versions of a narrative as presented by three distinctive syncretic narrators, or saints. These saints are syncretic and they interpret a story through changes in illustrative content and monologue. The artistic artefact is formatted as a series of pictorial sets in potentia. Upon scanning the pages with a mobile device, animated characters emerge within a illustrated world, accompanied by cinematic soundscapes. Methodologically, this research emanates from an artistic research paradigm that supports a heuristic approach to the discovery and refinement of ideas. Thus, the research draws upon both tacit and explicit knowledge in the development of a fictional narrative, its structure, and stylistic treatments. Three interrelated methods are used: designer’s journals, iterative assembly, overviewing and testing, and the strategic use of feedback. The project contributes to polyvocality and dialogical storytelling and aids in the creation of a distinctive transcultural narrative text through practice. It expands the possibilities of interactivity and immersion within a sequential, print-based narrative.