Depending on who you ask and what you read, the metaverse is the future of all media making and will provide a revolutionary labor platform. What will that mean for the future of independent artists? — Since 2015, filmmaker, writer, artist, and technologist Violeta Ayala began developing projects in virtual reality, generated from the creative point of view of a South American indigene. A Bolivian Quechuan, Ayala is currently working with partners scattered across Europe and South America. Collectively known as KOA.xyz, this aggregate of artists…

A conversation with interactive storyteller Illya Szilak — Illya Szilak is a physician and an interactive storyteller who works as a part-time physician at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility in New York City. Her work there informs her work as a writer and virtual world builder. I spoke with her in mid-June via Zoom. In part, these worlds…