The purpose of the Multimedia elective laboratory course is to introduce students to contemporary digital spaces of artistic expression. The resources provided aim to support both the technological development of students’ digital interactive projects, and the acquisition of skills for engagement in the realm of so-called “creative digital technologies” (virtual and augmented reality, digital games, artistic works on the internet, interactive installations, multimedia spaces and communities, e-books, and applications for smart devices).

The course is designed addressing students familiar or unfamiliar with digital technology. Specifically, students who are not familiar with technology utilize the visual arts skills they acquire in the basic study cycle of the Athens School of Fine Arts (e.g., drawing, painting, sculpture, body movement, spatial installations) and, with the guidance of the instructors, integrate them into digital environments. Towards this direction, they are taught, at a basic level, digital tools of artistic expression (design in virtual reality environments, sound editing, multimedia tools for image-sound-action in real-time, etc.). Students who are familiar with technology are assigned, accordingly, to more specialized task groups.

Laboratory operating hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 14:00 – 20:00 p.m. and by appointment with students.
Course hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 17:00 – 20:00 p.m.

Specific course hours
Creative Techologies / Interactive Artworks / Virtual Reality: every Monday and Friday, 17:00-20:00 p.m.
Digital Sound: every Wednesday, 17:00-20:00 p.m.
Combined Courses and Special Seminars: scheduled according to educational needs.

Meeting hours with students: 
Stavroula Zoi: every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 14:00-17:00 p.m.
Taxiarchis Diamantopoulos: every Wednesday, 14:00-17:00 p.m.

YouTube channel

Activities

Participation to the international event ΜΕΣΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΙΚΟΝΑ – INSIDE THE IMAGE – DANS L’IMAGE, Alphaville old cinema, 7-11/12/2023, organization by “Fournos” Multivalent Communication Network in collaboration with École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (Paris). Projects by the students Katerina Korre and Lefteris Kontopidis were presented, as well as projects with participating collaborators Stavroula Zoi and Konstantina Vetsiou (PhD candidate at the Athens School of Fine Arts).

Exhibition entitled “Open Spaces” in the scope of  7th Chaniartoon Festival, Chania, Greece, 11-24/9/2023
Multimedia Laboratory, in collaboration with the TECHNO-LOGIA Hub, presented the exhibition “Open Spaces” featuring the participation of ASFA students Nikos Athanasakis, Dioni Diochnou, Lefteris Kontopodis, Katerina Korre, Dimitris Mantadakis, Irini Panagiotopoulou, Triantafyllia Douroupi, Artemis Sartzetakis, John Stamatiou, George Tsiakos as part of the Chaniartoon – International Comic & Animation Festival on the theme “Space”.
The students created artworks of virtual and augmented reality, games, digital books, and interactive installations, expanding traditional artistic realms of action as well as audience perception spaces. Through their works, they composed new potential spaces, open to intervention and interpretation, shaping “Open Spaces” of coexistence and collective action.
Exhibition Curators: Stavroula Zoi, Taxiarchis Diamantopoulos, Yiannis Koukoulas.
For the development of the works, collaboration was made with Konstantina Vetsiou, PhD candidate at ASFA, and Dr. Tasos Roussos, Principal Researcher at FORTH-Institute of Computer Science.

Participation at ADAF 2023 Preview Edition, Stoa Korai, 12-14/5/2023
Multimedia  Laboratory participated in ADAF 2023 (Preview Edition) with the theme “Welcome to the Uncanny”. VR 360° teasers were presented by students Nikos Athanasakis, Katerina Korre, Dimitris Mantadakis, Artemis Sartzetakis, John Stamatiou, George Tsiakos.
Curation by: Stavroula Zoi, Taxiarchis Diamantopoulos
Konstantina Vetsiou, Ph.D. Candidate ASFA collaborated for the development of the projects.

Exhibition «Parallel Realities», Multimedia Laboratory, 13-16/10/2022
In the context of the “Open Studios” events of the Platforms Project 2022, the exhibition “Parallel Realities” was developed featuring student works of virtual reality and interactive installations by Nikos Athanasakis, Dioni Diochnou, Katerina Korre, Triantafyllia Douroupi, Thodoris Oikonomou, Angeliki Papadopoulou, Vasiliki Samiotaki, John Stamatiou, and George Tsiakos.
The exhibition was curated jointly by the students and the instructors of the laboratory.

ΦΑΡΜΑΚΟΝ (Farmakon), Multimedia Performance, BBQ Festival, ASFA, 2015
This is an improvisation that incorporates virtual reality techniques, digital games, and algorithmic music in combination with musicians, performers, and the audience. It was developed collaboratively by students and instructors of the Multimedia Laboratory and the Greek-French Master’s program “Art, Virtual Reality, and Multiuser Systems of Artistic Expression” between ASFA and University Paris-8. Specifically, the participants included students Georgios Apostolakos, Apostolos Kastritsis, Georgios Pinas, Konstantina Vetsiou, Nikos Papadopoulos, Thodoris Pistiolas, Dimitris Trakas, Irini Dimou, Alexandros Milkidis, instructors Manthos Santorineos, Vasilis Vlastaras, Taxiarchis Diamantopoulos, Nefeli Dimitriadi, performer Marita Vlasopoulou, dancer and choreographer Dimitris Karalis, musician and ASFA student Maria Louizou, and, of course, the audience.

Επιλογή In Crisis, 2013
This is an artistic game in a virtual environment. It was collaboratively developed by students and instructors of the Greek-French Master’s program and the Multimedia Laboratory in 2013. It pertains to the concept of “crisis” as an object that has a structure of interconnected choices. The visitor immerses themselves, through the Oculus Rift DK1 headset, into a system in crisis, artistically represented as a structure of interconnected choices. These choices are formulated as questions that the visitor must answer in real-time, based on the direction of their gaze, which is detected by the gyroscope of the headset. The implementation of the interconnected choices system was based on the structure of a directed graph.
Artistic Direction: Marie-Hélène Tramus, Manthos Santorineos.
Instructors: Stavroula Zoi, Nefeli Dimitriadi, Taxiarchis Diamantopoulos.
Students: John Bardakos, Christina Chrysanthopoulou, Ifigenia Mavridou, Anna Meli, Nikos Papadopoulos, Argyro Papathanasiou, Maria Velaora.
The curation of the questions was assisted by Vicky Tselepides (lawyer, writer) and Adamantia Giannakoura (psychologist).