fbpx

Simulation Sessions
August 2025 with Falsework Studio

A monthly mini-lecture and hack night for artists, game designers, character designers, architects, world builders, and AI agent designers working in (or interested in exploring) 3D simulation.

Monday, August 18, 2025

6PM – 8PM (drop by anytime!)

Open to all, regardless of experience / skill level.

Free RSVP

Bring your computer and current works-in-progress.

Seated program

View our FAQ page for more info, or contact us at [email protected] with any accommodation requests.

About Simulation Sessions

Simulation Sessions is a free monthly event series facilitated by the World Engines Lab, incubated at Gray Area. In response to the growing prevalence and sophistication of virtual simulations and environments, these sessions seek to sustain a local community of 3D designers, artists, and technologists, facilitate peer teaching and learning, and spark dialogue about the social, cultural, and political dimensions of building digital worlds.

All, regardless of skill or experience level, are welcome to attend and bring their current projects (in any 3D platform, including Unreal, Unity, Godot, Three.js, Babylon.js, Rhino, Blender, Houdini, Spline, Womp, TouchDesigner, Custom 3DAI tools, and more).

Each session begins promptly at 6pm with a brief talk or mini-workshop led by a member of the community. At 6:30pm, participants are invited to work on projects, seek technical advice, mingle, and meet others engaged in the practice of building simulations.

This Month's Speaker

Falsework (Gray Area Incubator Residents) will co-present an artist talk framing their debut project, the game Spider Lily. The talk will trace the evolution of their shared creative vision of an artist-centered studio focused on applying worldbuilding techniques to developing artist’s original intellectual property (IP). They will discuss storytelling and artistic approaches to multiple media formats as a response to the rapid rise and integration of artificial intelligence tools into creative work. After the talk, they would love to look at workshop participants' individual projects to give feedback and let people playtest Spider Lily.

falsework (Matthew Doyle + Yuehao Jiang)

falsework builds temporary structures for play, thought, and disruption. We work with artists who unsettle cultural feedback loops, moving across media to make space for new ways of sensing and telling.

Matthew J.X. Doyle is the founder of falsework studio, a new, artist-IP driven entertainment studio based in Los Angeles. falsework's mission is putting bold artists first, incubating and adapting original work across media formats for a global audience. Prior to founding falsework, Matthew built his career as an independent producer of new media projects. In this role, he collaborated with artists to realize ambitious works in mixed reality theater, simulation, VR, video, and digital games. Passionate about adapting narratives into emerging media forms, the projects he produced for artists zzyw, Theo Triantafyllidis, and Dynasty Handbag have been presented by leading institutions including Sundance New Frontiers (2020, 2021), Hyundai’s Art Lab, the Onassis Foundation, Ars Electronica, and the BFI London Film Festival.

Yuehao Jiang is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles exploring the surreal intersections between digital bodies and landscapes. Working with 3D animation, sculpture and painting, Jiang constructs immersive environments that blur the boundaries between the physical and the virtual. Spider Lily is her first game, based on a series of wax pastel drawings that became a story, a series of sculptures, and a 3D world. Jiang holds a MFA in Design Media Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has held teaching appointments at UCLA Design Media Arts and Parsons School of Design. She is a co-founder of falsework studio.

About the World Engines Lab

The World Engines Lab, led by Delta_Ark Studios and incubated at Gray Area, is focused on making a large persistent simulation with powerful agents that artists can use/collaborate with for live performance. This world can be adapted to create games, films, sculptures, agent-based scientific and interaction experiments and artificial life. Researcher-artists in the lab will use these systems to explore multi-species relations (humans, AI) and the future of evolution (on this planet, or others), articulating different narratives and ramifications of human-agent interaction.

Learn More

Become a Gray Area Member

As a Gray Area Member you get special access to events, behind-the-scenes content and more.

Gray Area is a dedicated family of supporters who believe in the power of creative action to catalyze social transformation. Join as a member today to provide sustaining support for our globally unique arts, education, research, and incubation programs.

Become a Member

Subscribe to our mailing list