STUDIO EDWARD CLYDESDALE THOMSON
BOUND TO THE MIRACULOUS
A CROSS-BORDER ZERO PLAYER GAME
Invitation card. Verso states 'Tuesday Evening, April 22nd, 8-10p.m', and underneath the Californian gallerie's details, states 'April 22 - May 17 1975'. The final date would have been when the artist had arrived in Holland by boat, an opening at the Groningen Museum, when a second invitation card was planned but never occured as the artist tragically was lost at sea.
At the heart of this project is an idea of mythic storytelling.
Dutch/Californian artist Bas Jan Ader was a conceptual and performance artist, and photographer. He was last seen in 1975 when he took off in what would have been the smallest sailboat ever to cross the Atlantic.
Ader embarked on what he called “a very long sailing trip.” The voyage was to be the middle part of a triptych called “In Search of the Miraculous,” a daring attempt to cross the Atlantic in a 12½ foot sailboat. He claimed it would take him 60 days to make the trip, or 90 if he chose not to use the sail. Six months after his departure, his boat was found, half-submerged off the coast of Ireland, but Bas Jan had vanished.*
Like with Bas Jan Ader’s original, this project aims to evoke the heroic and the tragic. The ever-changing beauty and danger of the open sea as a metaphor for our life-world. The tiny boat being a metaphor for our fragile existence floating perilously on this sea of circumstance.
Proto-type
Continuous live simulation of Guppy 13 crossing the Atlantic driven by real-time open-source weather, oceanographic and marine traffic data. Simulation runs inside unreal engine 5. Currently we are in preparation of the upcoming exhibition at the Groninger Museum and running a Kickstarter campaign for the development of the game app.
Using open source live weather data and marine simulation we create an online oceanic world in which the user is able to follow the artist’s journey perpetually, in real time.
Simulation Big Waves.
In this project the memory of Ader’s voyage serves as a frame story which will would allow us to explore questions about the climate, weather, pollution, data, history and endurance.
The difference between today and 40 years ago is that we are becoming increasingly aware that our actions have material effects on climate and weather patterns. With the growing frequency and intensity of Atlantic storms the Ocean Waves’ journey becomes increasingly certain to fail.
We believe it is relevant to retell this story today as its meaning and relevance has shifted away from an individual's existential struggle within the world, to a collective sense of precarity.
What dangers will this tiny boat encounter in this modern world? Will she make it to Groningen? Where will she disappear? With every failed attempt she will start back at the beginning of the trip, in search of favourable circumstances.
Diagram front view
As the virtual boat sails across the Atlantic, the ocean and weather effects will be changed using a custom-built system to replicate real-world weather.
The final system will draw data from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to ensure that the weather and oceanographic data and lighting conditions for the virtual boat are the same as if the virtual boat were sailing in that real location.
We will create an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system to pilot the boat, reacting to the challenges of the weather, creating a degree of randomisation for every attempt to cross the ocean.
We will collect live data on for instance, speed, direction, wave hight, temperature, currents and precipitation. But we can also gather other kinds of data, like the plastic concentration on specific locations and the ships that are at sea at that specific moment. With this data we could know if and when our little boat would collide with a container ship.
As the virtual boat sails the Atlantic, the ocean and weather effects will be changed using a custom-built system to replicate real world weather. By using Bas Jan Ader’s story, we create a human narrative. And by using the experimental power of gaming, the user can feel how climate, and by implication climate change, affects us all in a very personal way.
In our online journey, by using the power of art, everyone who lives today can be Bas Jan Ader and weather today’s storms, making the present environmental changes all the more tangible.
Pushing the boundaries of art, technology and social awareness.
Collaboration and sharing the knowledge
BUas, Breda University Of Applied Sciences
BUas has been working on the Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) project for five years, and has achieved a level of fidelity and complexity in the simulation that has been useful to planners and governmental bodies across Europe and the world. The project is also aimed at a very narrow professional audience.
One of the motivating factors for involvement is a broader interest in representation of the environmental crisis. By tying aspects of the simulation to the art world, BUas hopes to connect the relevance of the MSP planning tool to wider social discourses on representation of human connection to, and impact on, the environment. In essence, it will allow their research to reach a wider, non-specialist audience.
Utrecht University
This project allows the Oceanology department of Utrecht University to use their software ‘OceanParcels’ in a real-time setting. Usually this software is used to analyse movement of particles such as plastics and nutrients, to determine their origin and fate.
The project idea to simulate Bas Jan Ader’s journey using live data will be an interesting test case as they are planning to use their software for live simulations of plastic pollution in the future.
Bas Jan Ader’s boat will feature more complicated behaviour than the particles they usually simulate, which mostly follow the ocean currents. This allows the researchers to test their software with a more complex scenario. Finally, this project will help them regarding effective visualisation of our projects.
Studio Edward Clydesdale Thomson
Within the professional field the project's greatest relevance will be in bringing different disciplines together. It combines people and expertise from art history, visual art, programming, modelling, animation, climate science and disaster early warning systems. Bringing together these different fields of knowledge will lead to new understandings, connections and collaborations.
With bound to the miraculous we update a historical narrative: bringing the romantic story of Bas Jan Ader to the 21st century. In doing so we will bring a different audience in connection with conceptual art (history) and Ader’s work.
In a more practical way this project will bring more skills and methodologies to our studio and because of Thomson’s work as head of the fine art department of ArtEZ University in Arnhem, it will be passed on to new generations of artists.
Supported by Pauwhof Fonds
Vacancy UI/UX Designer
UI/UX Designer (Mobile Game)
The project
We are looking for skilled developers to work with us on a short-term basis to develop and release a mobile game app called Bound to the Miraculous: Ocean Health Edition. At the core of the game is a simulated journey that uses live, open-source oceanic and weather data to continuously sail a small virtual sailboat in real time across a simulated Atlantic ocean. A prompt game will be built on top of this simulation, with the narrative and gameplay adapting to the changing circumstances of the protagonist boat. Players can follow the boat live and explore various oceanographic and meteorological data points related to its location.
You will work on turning an existing draft prototype (functional real-time simulation of a protagonist boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean, created using Unreal Engine) into a mobile game product and releasing it in App stores. The app will be available on both iOS and Android.
The Team
Foundation Landfall is a network of collaborators that conduct artistic research, production and knowledge sharing across the visual arts and beyond — with an aim at fostering and advancing art and culture. Our mission is to envision and develop innovative, challenging projects and technologies that excite, inspire, and unite professionals across the arts, sciences, and technology. By promoting cutting-edge approaches to broader audiences, we aim to foster collaboration and creativity. We actively invite inventive minds from diverse fields to collaborate on bold new ideas. The Foundation Landfall serves as an interdisciplinary hub—a melting pot of skills and ideas that inspire and advance one another, where creativity and expertise come together to push the boundaries of what is known.
Role Summary:
The UI/UX Designer will focus on designing and developing a smooth, intuitive user interface for the prompt-based game, ensuring seamless interaction between the player and the game’s real-time prompts and responses on mobile devices.
Mobile UI/UX Design: Design a mobile-friendly user interface that allows players to interact with the game’s prompts and responses efficiently.
Interactive Prompt System: Create UI elements that display prompts in real-time, and allow players to interact with and submit their answers easily.
Feedback & Interaction: Design systems for visual and audio feedback, ensuring that the game responds to player inputs, answers, and progresses smoothly.
AI Interaction UI: Develop user-friendly interfaces that display responses from AI (ChatGPT), making the experience seamless and engaging.
AI Integration: Work with the programmer to integrate ChatGPT responses into the gameplay.
Skills Required:
Mobile UI Design: 3+ years experience designing mobile-friendly UIs for games, understanding the constraints and opportunities of mobile platforms.
Fluency with common design products such as Figma.
Prototyping: Proven ability to create interactive prototypes and wireframes to test UX flow.
Game Engines: Basic knowledge of Unreal Engine’s UI system (UMG) for implementing designs into the game.
A compelling portfolio showcasing successful releases of mobile apps (it would be a bonus if it’s across various markets).
Personal qualities
Fluent in spoken and written English
Team spirit
Excellent communication skills
Open minded
Creative
Attentive to detail
Pro-active and independent
Strong focus on result
Strong planning and organizational skills
Realistic
Work conditions:
Full time, project based: 40 hours a week
Office based: Kolderveen, The Netherlands
Start Work: February 2025
End Work: June 2025
Working language is English
What we offer:
Job that contributes to climate awareness
Office in the countryside.
Inspiring project, related to climate change awareness.
Small artistic team.
Friendly working environment with respect to fair working conditions.
Workstation for your job’s needs.
Travel costs and accommodation for the project duration in Meppel, the Netherlands (if coming from abroad).
Travel costs (2nd class public transport travel or car petrol reimbursement from home to office for Dutch-based candidates).
Remuneration:
On freelance basis
Paid per milestone
Depending on experience 4,000 to 6,500 Euro per month bruto
Apply before Sunday February 16, 2025 by emailing your motivation and CV to info@landfall.space
Vacancy Senior Game Developer
Senior Game Developer (Unreal Engine Gameplay Programmer) / Lead Pipeline
The project
We are looking for skilled developers to work with us on a short-term basis to develop and release a mobile game app called Bound to the Miraculous: Ocean Health Edition. At the core of the game is a simulated journey that uses live, open-source oceanic and weather data to continuously sail a small virtual sailboat in real time across a simulated Atlantic ocean. A prompt game will be built on top of this simulation, with the narrative and gameplay adapting to the changing circumstances of the protagonist boat. Players can follow the boat live and explore various oceanographic and meteorological data points related to its location.
You will work on turning an existing draft prototype (functional real-time simulation of a protagonist boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean, created using Unreal Engine) into a mobile game product and releasing it in App stores. The app will be available on both iOS and Android.
The Team
Foundation Landfall is a network of collaborators that conduct artistic research, production and knowledge sharing across the visual arts and beyond — with an aim at fostering and advancing art and culture. Our mission is to envision and develop innovative, challenging projects and technologies that excite, inspire, and unite professionals across the arts, sciences, and technology. By promoting cutting-edge approaches to broader audiences, we aim to foster collaboration and creativity. We actively invite inventive minds from diverse fields to collaborate on bold new ideas. The Foundation Landfall serves as an interdisciplinary hub—a melting pot of skills and ideas that inspire and advance one another, where creativity and expertise come together to push the boundaries of what is known.
Role Summary
Technical producer focusing on creating the core gameplay mechanics, including prompt-based gameplay integrated with real-time data from the simulation system and responsible for launching the game.
Key Responsibilities:
Technical production: Asset management overseeing and asset integration.
Developing and overseeing the pipeline.
Journey simulation: Update existing system for tracking the movement of a boat in an ocean simulation based on data input.
Render pipeline: Update existing lighting/shading system.
Animation: Update existing boat and ocean animation system.
Sound triggers: Update existing sound effect model.
Gameplay Development: Develop prompt-based mechanics for gameplay using Unreal Engine (and Blueprints or C++). Gameplay responds to real-time updates based on the unreal simulation of external data.
Mobile Optimization: Optimize the game for mobile devices, ensuring smooth performance on both iOS and Android.
Server hosting: Finding a solution for streaming the boat view. Cloud-based solution for streaming. Docker system for service hosting. Load balancer for client connection distribution and scaling
Compliance: Overseeing game development compliance with launching on app stores.
Key Skills:
C++, Python
Unreal Engine 5+
Experience:
Technical production
Successful launches in the App Stores.
Real-time data integration in games.
AI/NLP-driven gameplay.
Optimizing games for mobile platforms.
6+ years experience
Personal qualities
Fluent in spoken and written English
Team spirit
Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable with translating technical situations to non-technical audiences
Open minded
Creative
Attentive to detail
Pro-active and independent
Strong focus on result
Strong planning and organizational skills
Realistic
Work conditions:
Full time, project based: 40 hours a week
Office based: Kolderveen, The Netherlands
Start Work: February 2025
End Work: June 2025
Working language is English
Offer:
Job that contributes to climate awareness
Office in the countryside.
Inspiring project, related to climate change awareness.
Small artistic team.
Friendly working environment with respect to fair working conditions.
Workstation for your job’s needs.
Travel costs and accommodation for the project duration in Meppel, the Netherlands (if coming from abroad).
Travel costs (2nd class public transport travel or car petrol reimbursement from home to office for Dutch-based candidates).
Remuneration:
On a freelance basis.
Paid per milestone.
Depending on experience 5,000 to 7,000 euro per month bruto.
Apply before Sunday February 16, 2025 by emailing your motivation and CV to info@landfall.space
Vacancy Game Developer
Game Developer (Unreal Engine Gameplay Programmer)
The project
We are looking for skilled developers to work with us on a short-term basis to develop and release a mobile game app called Bound to the Miraculous: Ocean Health Edition. At the core of the game is a simulated journey that uses live, open-source oceanic and weather data to continuously sail a small virtual sailboat in real time across a simulated Atlantic ocean. A prompt game will be built on top of this simulation, with the narrative and gameplay adapting to the changing circumstances of the protagonist boat. Players can follow the boat live and explore various oceanographic and meteorological data points related to its location.
You will work on turning an existing draft prototype (functional real-time simulation of a protagonist boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean, created using Unreal Engine) into a mobile game product and releasing it in App stores. The app will be available on both iOS and Android.
The Team
Foundation Landfall is a network of collaborators that conduct artistic research, production and knowledge sharing across the visual arts and beyond — with an aim at fostering and advancing art and culture. Our mission is to envision and develop innovative, challenging projects and technologies that excite, inspire, and unite professionals across the arts, sciences, and technology. By promoting cutting-edge approaches to broader audiences, we aim to foster collaboration and creativity. We actively invite inventive minds from diverse fields to collaborate on bold new ideas. The Foundation Landfall serves as an interdisciplinary hub—a melting pot of skills and ideas that inspire and advance one another, where creativity and expertise come together to push the boundaries of what is known.
Role Summary
A Technical producer focusing on creating the core gameplay mechanics, including prompt-based gameplay integrated with real-time data from the simulation system and responsible for launching the game.
Key Responsibilities:
Journey simulation: Update existing system for tracking the movement of a boat in an ocean simulation based on data input.
Render pipeline: Update existing lighting/shading system.
Animation: Update existing boat and ocean animation system.
Sound triggers: Update existing sound effect model.
Gameplay Development: Develop prompt-based mechanics for gameplay using Unreal Engine (and Blueprints or C++). Gameplay responds to real-time updates based on the unreal simulation of external data.
Mobile Optimization: Optimize the game for mobile devices, ensuring smooth performance on both iOS and Android.
Server hosting: Finding a solution for streaming the boat view. Cloud-based solution for streaming. Docker system for service hosting. Load balancer for client connection distribution and scaling
Compliance: Overseeing game development compliance with launching on app stores.
Key Skills:
C++, Python
Unreal Engine 5+
Experience:
Real-time data integration in games.
AI/NLP-driven gameplay.
Optimizing games for mobile platforms.
3+ years experience
Personal qualities
Fluent in spoken and written English
Team spirit
Excellent communication skills
Open minded
Creative
Attentive to detail
Pro-active and independent
Strong focus on result
Strong planning and organizational skills
Realistic
Work conditions:
Full time, project based: 40 hours a week
Office based: Kolderveen, The Netherlands
Start Work: February 2025
End Work: June 2025
Working language is English
Offer:
Job that contributes to climate awareness
Office in the countryside.
Inspiring project, related to climate change awareness.
Small artistic team.
Friendly working environment with respect to fair working conditions.
Workstation for your job’s needs.
Travel costs and accommodation for the project duration in Meppel, the Netherlands (if coming from abroad).
Travel costs (2nd class public transport travel or car petrol reimbursement from home to office for Dutch-based candidates).
Remuneration:
On freelance basis
Paid per milestone
Depending on experience 4,000 to 6,500 Euro per month bruto
Apply before Sunday February 16, 2025 by emailing your motivation and CV to info@landfall.space
Vacancy Backend Developer
Backend Developer / Data Integrator
The project
We are looking for skilled developers to work with us on a short-term basis to develop and release a mobile game app called Bound to the Miraculous: Ocean Health Edition. At the core of the game is a simulated journey that uses live, open-source oceanic and weather data to continuously sail a small virtual sailboat in real time across a simulated Atlantic ocean. A prompt game will be built on top of this simulation, with the narrative and gameplay adapting to the changing circumstances of the protagonist boat. Players can follow the boat live and explore various oceanographic and meteorological data points related to its location.
You will work on turning an existing draft prototype (functional real-time simulation of a protagonist boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean, created using Unreal Engine) into a mobile game product and releasing it in App stores. The app will be available on both iOS and Android.
The Team
Foundation Landfall is a network of collaborators that conduct artistic research, production and knowledge sharing across the visual arts and beyond — with an aim at fostering and advancing art and culture. Our mission is to envision and develop innovative, challenging projects and technologies that excite, inspire, and unite professionals across the arts, sciences, and technology. By promoting cutting-edge approaches to broader audiences, we aim to foster collaboration and creativity. We actively invite inventive minds from diverse fields to collaborate on bold new ideas. The Foundation Landfall serves as an interdisciplinary hub—a melting pot of skills and ideas that inspire and advance one another, where creativity and expertise come together to push the boundaries of what is known.
Role Summary
Focusing on backend systems, integrating real-time data (shipping, weather, boat conditions) into the game and connecting external APIs, such as ChatGPT, for generating dynamic gameplay.
Key Responsibilities:
Web Crawling & Data Collection: Build web crawlers to gather real-time open source data from multiple ununified sources.
Database Development: Design and manage the database that stores this data, scalable storage for live updates.
Database Integration: Develop web API for seamless game access to the above database.
ChatGPT Integration: Integrate external AI sources (like ChatGPT) using APIs to provide prompts that adapt to the game’s simulation system and user inputs.
Data Integration: Real-time data is pulled into the game dynamically. Remapping the data to make it usable by the game engine.
Unreal Engine 5+ integration (C++, Blueprints, Python): Integration of these systems into a mobile environment using tools that support Unreal Engine.
Key Skills:
C++, Python
Experience:
Real-time data pipelines, API integrations, and ChatGPT or other NLP model API experience.
Developing and launching a mobile game.
Unreal Engine 5+ (is a plus).
3+ years experience.
Personal qualities
Fluent in spoken and written English
Team player
Excellent communication skills
Open minded
Creative
Realistic
Work conditions:
Full time, project based: 40 hours a week
Office based: Kolderveen, The Netherlands
Start Work: February 2025
End Work: June 2025
Working language is English
Offer:
Job that contributes to climate awareness
Office in the countryside.
Inspiring project, related to climate change awareness.
Small artistic team.
Friendly working environment with respect to fair working conditions.
Workstation for your job’s needs.
Travel costs and accommodation for the project duration in Meppel, the Netherlands (if coming from abroad).
Travel costs (2nd class public transport travel or car petrol reimbursement from home to office for Dutch-based candidates).
Remuneration:
On freelance basis
Paid per milestone
Depending on experience 4,000 to 6,500 Euro per month bruto
Apply before Sunday February 16, 2025 by emailing your motivation and CV to info@landfall.space