Art Game & Interview: Anita Fontaine's mobile Art Games (2010)

How it is, Tate Modern from Champagne Valentine on Vimeo.

Anita Fontaine's early Game Art experiments, the CuteXDoom series, left a mark in the history of this artform. Her project, developed in co-operation with Geoff Lillemon, is a mobile application that features a hidden game for the iPhone. The art game was designed for Miroslaw Balkas' exhibition “How it is” at the Turbine Hall at Tate Gallery in London. GameScenes discussed the project with Anita Fontaine [previously on GameScenes]:

GameScenes: These days, Game Art is going mobile... Can you describe your art game?

Anita Fontaine: We developed an app (and an online component) to complement the installation by Miroslaw Balka at the Tate Modern's turbine hall. Using a custom made "thumbpad" style joystick on the interface, app users can explore the 3d Balka world and tap to further investigate and trigger audio and visual content.  
 
GameScenes: There is also a secret game in the app which the user can unlock by visiting the exhibition...

Anita Fontaine: Yes, if you visit the installation at the Tate Modern additional game content is unlocked. We are really interested in exploring location based cinema and gameplay with apps.  
 
GameScenes: Are museums finally willing to embrace "new" technologies and tools such as mobile phones and videogames to augment and enhance their exhibitions?

Anita Fontaine: I think adding other digital layers to exhibitions and museum displays is a really good idea, either with apps, installations or engaging the audience with interactive elements like augmented reality. I think it allows an audience to delve deeper into the subject matter in a really fun way. Aside from our app for the Tate Modern I haven't seen a tonne of apps which are engaging the museum audience with mobile and gps technology. We are really interested in pioneering this. 
 
GameScenes: Nowadays, more and more artists are developing games and apps for mobile platforms. One recent example that comes to mind is Vanitas, created by the Belgian duo Tales of Tales. “Vanitas” was inspired by Flanders' still-life paintings from the sixteenth century. Is this just a trend or is it a brand new day for Game Art?
 
Anita Fontaine: I haven't played the Vanitas project but apps and game apps with an artistic edge are definately appealing. I am currently really enjoying, and trying to understand at the same time the surreal japanese game Noby Noby boy. I like these kind of conceptually challenging experiences the best. Hi how are you, a game inspired by Daniel Johnston is another cool example. Our project Ghostgarden is really exciting in this way as it gets people exploring real garden spaces seeking out cinematic content using a map on their iPhone. For each space we work with we develop a unique story and series of content.  

GameScenes: What about CuteXDoom?  
 
Anita Fontaine: The CuteXDoom series is a game mod and installation which we create for galleries as there are tactile elements to the install like wallpaper and sculpture. We are actually considering making an iPhone app version though for level 3 of the game, as soon as we have time!

“CuteXdoom II is a game- modification and installation which is the second installment in the artists' CuteXdoom videogame series. The modification hijacks the traditionally violent Unreal Tournament 3 technology to create a luscious and surreal gaming experience. CuteXdoom II continues to explore the themes of obsession and fanatical adherence to ideologies, but is a stand-alone narrative with a new mission. In the explanatory animation that starts the game, Sally Sanrio wakes up from her paroxysm to find herself in a familiar, yet changed, environment. Upon drinking a liquid nearby, she notices that the cute environment she once sought to enter is becoming increasingly strange and distorted. She realises that she has been poisoned. Once sweet characters now appear malevolent, predatory; the landscape becomes surreal and sinister, graphic forms are elegant, and almost cruel. In this altered state of perception she realises that the cult of CuteXDoom was not what she thought it would be, and that she must fight the effects of the poison to find the antidote and escape.” (Anita Fontaine)

CuteXDoom II has recently been exhibited  @ the Space Invaders exhibition at FACT gallery in Liverpool, UK.

text by Mathias Jansson

CuteXDoom II at Vimeo embeded 

Cutexdoom II from Anita Fontaine on Vimeo.

Link: Anita Fontaine