Game Art: Angela Washko's "Red Shirts and Blue Shirts (The Gay Agenda)" (2014)
Red Shirts and Blue Shirts (The Gay Agenda) is another great example of in-game intervention from New York-based artist Angela Washko. As I recently discussed in Siena, Italy, there's critical play, but also critical players and Washko exemplifies the latter in her attempt to bring into the spotlight "The blatant discrimination, homophobia, and extreme sexism" of World of Warcraft. These persistent issues "are not a result of the developers’ aesthetics, but the community of avatar-hidden individuals that play it." (Washko). What's Washko's modues operandi? She creates
videos from performances inside of World of Warcraft that investigate the relationship between female players and the intensely complex social communities within WOW. I am hacking the understood functionality of the game by actively engaging in political and social discussions about women instead of going on quests and killing stuff. I hope to help to create an environment that encourages women gamers to participate. I also present performances and videos to a non-MMO-informed public that is unaware that these communities exist. (Washko)LINK
Submitted by Matteo Bittanti
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