Madhavi Bhagwat

Madhavi Shrish Bhagwat is a visual artist and XR storyteller designing inclusive experiences and environments.

She was awarded the Apple Scholarship to pursue her MA in Digital Direction at the Royal College of Art.

Prior to the RCA, she worked as an independent 3D designer and created VR marketing solutions for Unilever. At present, she is an AR creator with Snapchat, expanding the creative possibilities of the new-gen Spectacles. Her latest project Nazar (2023) reframes the protective practices around the evil eye and contextualises them in the age of rampant surveillance.

She previously graduated with a B.Des in Graphic Design from the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad, India.

Black and White Studio Portrait of Madhavi. Photo by Cressida Jade.

Nazar: Nazar is an ongoing project looking for partners and collaborators for future development. Please get in touch and watch this space to see further development of the project!

Statement:

Madhavi’s creative practice is informed by language, culture and myth and focuses on creating interesting and accessible XR experiences. During her MA at the Royal College of Art, she co-created projects about identity, digitisation, water (sound, poetry and virtual reality), and connective AR experiences. Her latest project reframes the protective practices of the Nazar and contextualises them in the age of rampant surveillance. She is also currently an independent creator with Snapchat (as of June 2023).

Studio Portrait by Cressida Jade.

About

What can the protective practices of the ‘Nazar’ teach us about navigating the optics of attention and surveillance in networked technology? Nazar critically examines the cultural concept of the Nazar (evil eye) across the world and the parallels of increasing visibility and surveillance of our lives online and offline.

Poster

Launch Project

In Collaboration with:

Pranav Bhagwat

Software Developer

Medium:

A multi-media artwork and interactive experience

Size:

Dimensions varied

About

A transmedia installation for participants to reflect on the effects and influence of mediated information on the marketing of identity. The installation experience spanned 3D animation, audio, sculpture and headset VR.

A science-fiction about two sections of society, the aspirational Klailas, a cloud city that sells a heavily advertised ‘digital face’ to Lok (affected by bio-warfare) that promises a better life. The experience was divided into two parts: Lok (in the real world) and Klailas (in the virtual world) and took the viewer through the journey of a Lok person who 'achieves' the digital face and ascends to Klailas.

Stills from the Film

Sculpture, audio and physical installation

Two-channel video installation

In Collaboration with:

Medium:

Mixed-media Installation, Headset VR, Audio, 3D Animation, Sculpture

Size:

Dimensions varied

face identity immersive-experience installation mixed-media science-fiction virtual-reality vr world-building

About

A short vignette of a fictional space settlement- on this exoplanet, the sun sets in a matter of seconds giving it the shortest days and long nights.

Created in Unreal Engine 5.

Medium:

3D Animation

3d-animation science-fiction space-time unreal-engine

About

How might we conserve stories of Water and its intangible cultural heritage, set against the backdrop of climate change?

A Virtual Reality installation, comprising headset VR, projected animations, ambient audio and scent; Sink or Swim tells the sonic stories of six people and their personal and cultural memories of water. The unique methodology of this project involved recording participant interviews, collaborating with a poet to turn those interviews into poems, and having the original interviewees narrate and re-record their poems; which were then developed into immersive soundscapes.

Responsible for conceptualisation, interviews, writing, VR design and development in UE5.