Hybrid Futures
Dr Tom Penney
Group Member
Dr Tom Penney is a Lecturer and Program Manager of the Bachelor of Design (Games) at RMIT University. He has 12 years of experience in the tertiary education sector. He was previously a lecturer and Industry Fellow in Digital Media at RMIT, as well as a sessional academic in Games and Digital Media. Tom previously worked in an augmented reality fashion company, as well as teaching art and design at Curtin and Monash Universities.
His teaching and design of educational studios have focused on agile skills development across digital interaction, immersive environments, experience design, media art and 3D imaging. This involves technical as well as soft skills, work-integrated learning and critical theory.
Tom’s contemporary arts practice involved 3D imaging, cross-reality (virtual and augmented reality) games technology and digital design. He was one of the first contemporary artists in Australia to use 3D photogrammetry, laser-scanning and the game engine Unity3D for critical and experimental artistic purposes in post-internet and post-digital contexts.
Tom’s current practice-based project is “Dark Forest”, an interactive art-game to feature at ACMI. It is a piece that uses gameplay mechanics to explore internet and social media critique, and features 3D scanned plasticine artwork in Unreal Engine 5.
His PhD research project “Critical Affection” developed an expanded notion of “critical play” and “affection-image” in digital media and games through contemporary art practice. Much of this drew on a series of artworks that critically represented gay online dating apps.