Sandbox: Worlds within Worlds

Worlds within Worlds

In-conversation - Jazmin Morris and Michelle Collier

To celebrate the launch of Sandbox, artists Michelle Collier and Jazmin Morris come together to discuss the show’s themes of storytelling, alternate Sci-Fi/fantasy/myth narratives, immersive & interactive worldbuilding and representation in the gaming industry.

About Sandbox

28 July - 14 August 2025

Inspired by play, exchange of knowledge, the theme of worlding*, and using creative computing and games design as mediums for social/political criticism, Jazmin Morris, re-imagines Modal gallery as a community resource.

Featuring talks, workshops, a games night and an open-access library, Morris looks to disrupt and push the boundaries of knowledge sharing and traditional archiving, situating carefully curated media as a tool for collective resistance and liberation. A response to gaps in access to cultural and educational experiences, Sandbox is a call and part of a long term ambition to envision more radical systems for learning, critical thinking and restorative practices and the potential of code and technologies.

Both in person and digitally, the show and residency will take place at the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University and manifest via Gather, an interactive 8-bit style virtual conferencing platform. In Gather, audiences will join a virtual ‘in conversation’ with Jazmin Morris and Ama Dogbe whilst also being able to explore some elements of the physical show, online.

We invite you to explore Jazmin’s presentation of artefacts, literature, provocations, worlds and interactive games. Jazmin will lead workshops to explore themes of worldbuilding, science fiction and creative technology skill sharing. To be present, play, connect and recharge with opportunities to explore digital works from Jazmin’s cannon that interrogate extractive economies of digital industries and the exclusion of those with limited access to resources, infrastructure or representation.

*Making worlds together, inspired by the question ‘what kinds of worlds are needed at this time of ecological crises?

Jazmin Morris

Jazmin Morris is a Creative Computing Artist and Educator based in West Yorkshire. Her practice and pedagogy consider the historical trajectories of modern technology and critically speculate on the landscape of human-computer interaction. Using free and open-source tools, Jazmin crafts participatory digital works that challenge power dynamics and hierarchies within cyberspace, with a particular emphasis on the processes of simulating culture and identity. Despite her critical approach, Jazmin appreciates the early days of the internet and is a huge fan of the classic gaming icon, Super Mario 64.

Michelle Collier

Michelle Collier is a writer, artist and narrative designer based in Greater Manchester. She creates stories for animation, games and immersive experiences, and has written on projects for the likes of BBC Arts, the National Gallery and the BFI. She's also a member of BAFTA Connect, Trustee of Manchester City of Literature and one of Channel 4's New Writers 2024/25. Michelle has exhibited artwork at HOME, NOMA and The Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub (Jesus College, Oxford), while her short film/animation work has screened at various festivals, including Depict!, London Short Film Festival, Underwire and Manchester Animation Festival. Michelle was a writer in residence for Manchester’s inaugural Festival of Libraries, an artist in residence at a community bookshop (twice) and has published short fiction with Lune, MsLexia and National Flash Fiction Day. Michelle loves to explore the things that haunt us, creating stories inspired by the weirder edges of our world – from regional folklore to our newly emerging myths. Through her work she's invited people to hunt for old gods in the Dark Peak, grown mushrooms on books and communed with ghostly distant librarians… among other things! She's currently working on a collection of speculative short fiction exploring the uncanny side effects of lives increasingly mediated through technology.

Sandbox is part of Commons, a joint commitment by AND and SODA to platform emerging art forms and push the boundaries of digital practice. Devised as a prompt to rethink our approaches to digital practices, the programme and ask explores if we can develop new models for commissioning, experiencing, interpreting and preserving digital art that reflect the inherent values of digital culture.

This programme is a collaboration between Abandon Normal Devices (AND) and Modal gallery at Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Digital Arts (SODA). AND is supported with public funding from Arts Council England.