Factory International

Factory+

From video series and podcasts to editorial takeovers, artist experiments and virtual worlds - it’s all here at Factory+.

Series

In the Studio

Artists and collectives show us the space where their ideas come to life.

Dream Space

What does art have the power or potential to do, when we allow ourselves to dream? We explore this in our new podcast, hosted by Gemma Cairney.

Building Worlds

Building Worlds takes you behind the scenes of our productions to meet the teams and people that create a show.

Factory Sessions

Discover live performances from the best in the business and Manchester’s next gen of musicians.

Editor in Residence

  • Writer, editor and academic McKenzie Wark

    McKenzie Wark

    McKenzie Wark takes over Factory+ for Autumn 2023.

    Inspired by the iconic club scenes within The Matrix films directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the New York-based academic and writer has commissioned a range of voices to muse on the question: where do you go to free your body? The responses represent a range of cutting-edge fiction, reflection and essays.

    McKenzie is the author, among other things, of Love and Money, Sex and Death (Verso Books), Raving (Duke University Press), and Reverse Cowgirl (Semiotexte). She edited the Trans | Fem | Aesthetics special issue of eflux journal and co-edited the Black Rave special issue with madison moore. She teaches at The New School in New York City.

Xiomara Cervantes-Gómez | I Saw Her in Paradise

Writer and performance artist Xiomara Cervantes-Gomez on how the club itself might only be a simulation of a world in which our bodies might be free.

Gavilán Rayna Russom | Praise, Pleasure and the Nightlife Net

Writer, artist and curator Gavilán Rayna Russom on the interstitial moments of conversation in and around the dancefloor.

Benedict Nguyễn | Horse Girl, Trans Girl

Dancer and writer Benedict Nguyễn on the pleasures and perils of navigating nightlife as a “horsegirl”.

Zora Jade Khiry | Unspooled

Writer Zora Jade Khiry on the search through the club and the rave for the place to get free as a Black trans woman.

McKenzie Wark | Follow the white rabbit

Read McKenzie Wark's opening editorial and prompt to writers: where do we go to free our body?

Jessica Dunn Rovinelli | Only Ever an Image of Liberation

Filmmaker and writer Jessica Dunn Rovinelli reflects on the three nightlife scenes in The Matrix films.

S.J Norman | Codex Exstasis

SJ Norman chronicles their life as a dancing body – from Australia to Berlin.

McKenzie Wark | Night Clade

McKenzie Wark reflects on bringing together a clade of trans voices for her time as Factory+ Editor in Residence.

Games

I CAN'T FOLLOW YOU ANYMORE

I CAN'T FOLLOW YOU ANYMORE
This new browser-based video game from artist and world builder Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley explores Black trans identity, spirituality and resistance through vampires – all wrapped up in a 90s horror aesthetic.
Discover more and play →

  • We Dwell in Possibility

    The latest digital work in our Virtual Factory series is a queer gardening simulation by Robert Yang and Eleanor Davis.

  • Your Progress Will Be Saved

    LaTurbo Avedon journeys inside Fortnite Creative for the first work in our Virtual Factory series

  • Songs of the Lost

    Paloma Dawkins' magic-realist game odyssey through a surreal and absurd digital landscape.

  • Lost Memories Dot Net

    MIF’s first ever game commission, courtesy of one of the most innovative and individual video game designers working today - Nina Freeman.

Art

  • Factory Works

    A new audio artwork and accompanying film by Neville Gabie – created with Nabihah Iqbal, Mark Thomas and the construction workers who built Aviva Studios.

  • Postcards From Now

    Postcards from Now presents five distinct films from leading international artists.that responded to the Global Pandemic.

  • To the Moon

    In this interactive essay, Laurie Anderson shares how she drew inspiration from constellations to create a new work in VR for MIF19, To the Moon.

  • Big Ben Lying Down With Political Books

    Explore Argentinian art pioneer Marta Minujín’s participatory artwork alongside comprehensive archives of her work.

  • Portrait Of Black Britain Online

    This online gallery profiles a range of Black people living in the UK today, the contributions they make and the roles they play in society

  • The Story of Aviva Studios

    Explore the journey from ambitious idea to landmark cultural venue through four commissioned projects.

Experiments

Immersive Tech In Performance

In 2019, we began a major piece of research and development exploring how audiences of the future will experience live performance. Fifteen specialist organisations, including MIF brought together their expertise in theatre and performance, the music industry, video production, gaming and the research sector to explore what it means to perform live using technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality.

To celebrate the completion of this research many of the findings have been published at Findings In The Future, a collection of panel discussions and technical documents that share insights into the making of DYSTOPIA987, Dream and more.

‏‏‎ ‎

Adapting Story, Character & Performance for XR

00:58:10

Performance, Puppetry and XR Stages

01:05:37

Cross Sector R&D

00:44:10

Physical and Virtual Counterparts: Blending Real and Virtual Worlds

00:52:49

Virtual Tours

Explore the Tours‏‏‎ ‎

A photograph of a building with a large text installation applied with white adhesive vinyl. The text reads "[THE SOUND OF BSL ASKING WHY THERE ISN'T ONE UNIVERSAL SPOKEN LANGUAGE".

Tour of Captioning The City by Christine Sun Kim

00:02:37

A photograph of a man walking past 4 posters showing artwork from Poet Slash Artist while talking on the phone.

Tour of Poet Slash Artist with curators Lemn Sissay and Hans Ulrich Obrist

00:11:40

A screenshot of LaTurbo Avedon in Fortnite Creative - they are shot from the left side, and their face is lit by the blue light of the phone they are looking at.

Tour of Your Progress Will Be Saved with artist LaTurbo Avedon

00:22:23

Talks

Photographs of Tino Sehgal and Juan Mata

Formations: Tino Sehgal and Juan Mata In Conversation

01:06:58

Photo of Benji Reid speaking

Benji Reid

00:27:09

Photo of Ryan Gander speaking

Ryan Gander

00:45:32

Laurie Anderson

00:58:58

Forensic Architecture

01:07:55

All Of This Unreal Time

00:46:30

Marta Minujín

00:47:47

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