Connor Gottfried
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Canadian artist Connor Gottfried is known for his uniquely interactive and playable sculptures, fusing technology, and the nostalgia of gaming culture.
His latest series includes striking aluminium wall sculptures embedded with functioning retro video game screens. Each work is a portal into the past, inviting engagement while reflecting on how technology shaped imagination, identity, and creativity. By merging physical craftsmanship with digital interactivity, Gottfried opens a conversation about memory, agency, and our evolving relationship with the machines and the consumerist culture that now define our daily lives.
For a generation raised alongside evolving digital technology, play wasn’t just a pastime, but a shared experience with machines that mirrored our growth. Gottfried encourages us to reconnect with that foundational relationship, merging physical form with digital memory and raising the question; What happens when we return to play as adults? Can the act of playing reconnect us with forgotten parts of ourselves? And in a world of automation, does play remain uniquely human, or does it become a space we now share with machines?
Through nostalgia-infused interaction, Gottfried offers a space to reflect, engage, and rediscover at the intersection of art, technology, and human development – where nostalgia becomes a bridge to reimagine the future of interaction, creativity, and digital culture.
"Each piece is a portal: tactile, interactive, and infused with the cultural memory of games, graphics, and glitch. It’s art you don’t just look at – you play with. And in doing so, Play II asks: What does it mean to revisit the tools of our imagination?”
