Abstract

This thesis is a creative, critical exploration of world-building through a series of practice-based curatorial projects. The research identifies how the concept of world-building has been used by artists, writers and curators, and establishes three world-building methods; modelling, collaborative storyworlding, and
hyperdiegetic practices. It identifies world-building as curatorial methods to test, extend and support narrative spaces, to build worlds using other people’s stories, and connect local contexts with global systems. To do this the thesis creates new terms and defines types of collaboration and participation
within curatorial world-building, including hyperdiegesis. As part of a practical body of research, a series of curatorial projects were created, designed to test various principles of world-building within a new
media curating context. In distinction to critical mapping practices modelling is identified as speculative, dynamic and updatable and positioned as a collaborative curatorial method for breaking down a world.
Collaborative storyworlding is developed as a strategy for curators to make worlds using other people’s stories and differentiates types of collaboration and participation sharing world-building between curator, collaborator and participant. Hyperdiegetic practices defines stages of curatorial information and
knowledge-gathering, creating space for participation across local contexts and global systems. Through its successes and limitations, the beginning of a world-building as curating methodology was developed.