Game Art: Jacob Taekker's "Today I Died" (2011)
On the surface, Today I Died looks like your typical shoot'em up. Armed with a light gun, the visitor/player is expected to kill the avatar that materializes on the screen. However, there's a catch. Actually, two. One: the character is a 3D model of the Danish artist, Jacob Taekker (born 1977). Second, the digital alter ego keeps reappearing after he has been shot. A counter on the screen shows the number of deaths. The screen is soon filled with identical corpses. A playful allegory of reincarnation? A commentary of virtual death? A reflection on the sheer stupidity of gameplay? A celebration of the persistence of on-screen simulated cadavers? A joke on the overbearing presence of the Super-Ego (pun intended)? A...
Link: Jacob Taekker
related: Brody Condon's "Death Animations" (2007-2008)
Submitted by Mathias Jansson