Serpentine will debut THE DELUSION, the most ambitious project to date by London and Berlin-based British artist and game designer Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley. Opening at Serpentine North on 30 September 2025 and running until 18 January 2026, the exhibition presents a new multiplayer video game commission that combines satire, gameplay, and participatory theatre to explore the urgent themes of polarisation, censorship, and social connection.
Designed as an immersive, community-driven experience, THE DELUSION places participants at the centre of the narrative. The project encourages audiences to pause, reflect, and reconnect, transforming the gallery into both a game space and a forum for discussion around some of the most pressing socio-political issues of our time.
Brathwaite-Shirley, known for blending digital innovation with lived experience, has brought together artists, researchers, technologists, and members of her Black Trans and Queer community to realise the work. The project combines advanced technologies with older or “obsolete” techniques, including 2D and 3D sprite animation and the open-source UPBGE (Uchronia Project Blender Game Engine).
Blending fact and speculative fiction, the conceptual roots of THE DELUSION stem from Brathwaite-Shirley’s zine Below the Blue Line, set in a post-apocalyptic world under a new era of “Peace by Isolation.” The resulting work creates an immersive “community play,” using absurd humour and satire to prompt collective reflection on division and belonging.
The commission builds on Serpentine’s ongoing collaboration with Brathwaite-Shirley, which began in 2021 with research and prototyping phases. Previous projects include WE CAN’T DO THIS ALONE, YOUR PRESENCE ALONE CHANGES HOW OTHERS BREATHE, and THE LACK, co-commissioned by Art Night, NeON Digital Arts and Serpentine Arts Technologies for Art Night Dundee 2023.
THE DELUSION also marks the continuation of Serpentine Arts Technologies’ commitment to exploring the creative and civic possibilities of gaming technologies. This builds on a legacy of projects that expand video games into hybrid physical and digital experiences, including Ian Cheng’s Bad Corgi (2015) and B.O.B. (2018), Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s Catharsis (2020), Trust’s Hivemind (2022), and Gabriel Massan & Collaborators’ Third World: The Bottom Dimension(2023), which has toured internationally since its debut at Serpentine North.
Exhibition details:
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley: THE DELUSION
30 September 2025 – 18 January 2026
Serpentine North, London
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