Saints of Paradox: Integrating Cultural and Storytelling Concepts in an Interactive Digital Narrative

This presentation will discuss a practice-led, artistic research project that explores the potential of an interactive digital narrative to examine the boundaries between reality and imagination within the framework of Realismo Maravilhoso. The practical project, Saints of Paradox, is designed as a printed picture book that can be expanded using AR (Augmented Reality) technology. The structure of the book enables readers to explore different versions of a narrative as presented by three distinct syncretic narrators, or saints. These saints reinterpret the story through alterations in the illustrative content and monologue. The artistic artefact is conceived as a series of pictorial sets in potentia. When the pages are scanned with a mobile device, animated characters appear within a illustrated world, accompanied by a cinematic soundscape. Methodologically, this research is grounded in an artistic research paradigm that supports a heuristic approach for idea discovery and refinement. The research draws on both tacit and explicit knowledge in the development of the fictional narrative, its structure, and stylistic elements. The process involves three interrelated methods: designer’s journals, iterative assembly, overviewing and testing, and the strategic application of feedback. This project contributes to the practice of polyvocal and dialogic storytelling, fostering the creation of a culturally distinctive, transcultural narrative text. It also expands the possibilities of interactivity and immersion within a sequential, print-based narrative.