GAMESCENES

GAME ART: JOSEPH DELAPPE'S WILFRED OWEN'S REPLAY (2018)

American artist Joseph DeLappe is streaming right now on Twitch a new online performance, a replay of an early project titled “War Poetry: Medal of Honor, Allied Assault Online”, where the artist read the poetry of British soldier Wilfred Owen in a first-person shooter game. We spoke to DeLappe in 2010 about this performance - here's the salient part:

DeLappe is recreating that seminal work in Verdun in honor of the anniversary of Owen's death, a century ago last Sunday. 

Today, November 11 2018, is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the Great War.

You can watch the performance here

LINK: Joseph DeLappe

ART GAME: HUNTER JONAKIN'S BEATING A DEAD HORSE WITH A ONE-TRICK PONY (2018)

From the author of Jeff Koons Must Die!!! and Can You Hear Me Now? comes Beating a Dead Horse with a One-Trick Pony, a first-person RPG (ArtPG) with a narrative, mild melee combat, and some platforming elements. The game is a sequel to Jeff Koons Must Die!!! and is set in the same destroyed museum that the previous game ended in. Jonakin developed the game between November 2017 and November 2018. As he explains on Steam, "It was a very personal project that deals with my struggles navigating the pitfalls of the art world and my realizations and epiphanies regarding the complex systems within that world. It is a love letter as well as a Dear John letter."

Hunter Jonakin was born in North Alabama, where he spent his formative years. In his early twenties, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota with a group of friends, where they played, recorded, and obsessed over every facet of underground/indie rock music. Ten years after venturing to the frigid north Jonakin went back to school and finished a BFA in visual art at the University of Minnesota. In 2011 he completed a MFA in studio art at Florida State University. Currently, Jonakin resides and makes art in Minneapolis, MN.

LINK: Hunter Jonakin

VIDEO: IN-GAME PHOTOGRAPHY (ART OF GAMING) (2017)

 

Martin Geisler and Rainer Sigl discuss in-game photography with Melek Balgün in another episode of the excellent Art of Gaming series on Gallic/Teutonic channel Arte. 

 

 

Themes and keywords: the photographer as a demiurge via modding. Photography as alternative/emergent gameplay. In-game photography adds "extra value" to the game? "Extracting something that the designers did not create" (Geisler). In-game photography as a creative practice that enhances the game and highlights the player's skills (akin to high-performance play, as Lowood aptly put it?). Total control vs. lack of control (e.g. Squad). Taxonomies: record (memories, souvenirs) vs. art (Sigl). "99% of in-game photographs are not made with an artistic intent" (Sigl). The difference between "real" photography and in-game photography is "purely ideological" (Sigl). In-Game photography not an art form, but a remix art? (Balgün).

 

 

Games discussed: theHunter, Skyrim, No Man's Sky, Squad. 

 

 

On the same subject, don't miss Fraser Brown's excellent article "Photographing invisible animals in theHunter: Call of the Wild" recently published on Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

LINK: IN-GAME PHOTOGRAPHY (ART OF GAMING)

 

LINK: Martin Geisler

 

LINK: Reiner Sigl

EVENT: GAMEZFESTIVAL: POSTMORTEM (November 9 - 11, 2018, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND)

 

GAMEZFESTIVAL 2018: POSTMORTEM

 

November 9 - 11, 2018

Kunstraum Walcheturm 

Kanonengasse 20, Zurich Switzerland 

 

The sixth edition of Swiss game fest extravaganza gameZfestival is upon us. The event is jam packed with three days of talks, international guests, indie game studios, panel discussions, awards and an OpenMic. The theme of the 2018 edition is "Postmortem", a somehow logical follow up to last year's "Game Over". Among the featured speakers are

 

* Mary Flanagan (Tiltfactor; Game Artist, Writer, Scholar)

* Tarn Adams (Dwarf Fortress Game Designer/Dev)

* Jana Sloan van Geest (writer for Assassin's Creed Origins)

* Adam Mayes and Ulf Benjaminsson from Speldesign, Uppsala University

* Günther Hack (author of Quiz)

 

 

The Festival and the conference Interactive Narratives and Mechanics in Design and Culture will be accompanied by a videogame exhibition titled forgotten gamemechanics (sic), featuring "games with game mechanics, that are not present in mainstream anymore."

 

The international gameZfestival is organized by the gameZfestival association, Game Lab and Game Design ZHdK. The Program has been developed by René Bauer, Mela Kocher, Beat Suter,  Max Moswitzer, Philomena Schwab, Tabea Iseli, and the GameLab of the University of the Arts Zurich. The exhibition was developed by René Bauer, Beat Suter, Mela Kocher and the Master students of Game Design ZHdK. Philomena Schwab and Stefan Schmidlin organize the Open Mic and Open Screen. Sebastiaan Cator and Philomena Schwab put together the Swiss Games Trailers 2018. Markus Rosse is the photographer. Tabea Iseli is responsible for the Festival's whole Online Marketing.  Students from Game Design ZHdK have collaborated in designing and installing the exhibition and festival spaces. 

 

LINK: GAMEZFESTIVAL 2018 (all images courtesy of GAMEZFESTIVAL)

EVENT: LONGITUDE EXHIBITION (OCTOBER 17-NOVEMBER 25 2018, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA)

LONGITUDE EXHIBITION

Curated by Hugh Davies

October 17 to November 25th, 2018

Library at the Dock

107-117 Victoria Harbour Promenade

Docklands, Melbourne Australia

https://longitude-exhibition.net

Featuring artists from across the Asia-Pacific Region, the Longitude exhibition presents cultural, experimental, design and arts practices in the medium of games. Running alongside the exhibition is an event program featuring analog and digital gameplay, films, interactive objects, workshops and panel presentations. 

The Longitude exhibition celebrates games and play as a broad and persistent aspect of culture with the capacity to connect diverse groups. The playful works highlight games as activities beyond escapist entertainment but as nuanced, challenging and inspiring forms of cultural expression that bring a broader understanding to the world and the people it. 

The Longitude exhibition presents cultural, experimental and arts practices in the medium of games. Showcasing artists from across the Asia-Pacific Region working with games and play, the exhibition will also include workshops, film screenings, and presentations. Central to this project is the invigoration of games as activities inclusive of a broad range of audiences. This means absolutely everyone is welcome.

The title of the exhibition longitude refers to the timezone shared by Australia with the Asia Pacific region. These temporal rhythms see the entire Asia Pacific playing together at the same time. Our play is connected, not just through Internet cables, but via lines of longitude.

Curator Hugh Davies has organized a series of terrific events related to Longitude. Click here for the full list.

Featured artists

Sun Yu

Toshio Iwai

Ojiro Fumoto

Dinosaur Polo Club

Paper House

Mojiken

Spotlights Interactive

Triple Day Studios

Lauren Stellar

Neko Games

Ip Yuk-Yui

Troy Innocent

Yesterday is a 3D Puzzle Game that explores love and encounter from a girl’s perspective.

Appearing at the Kuso Game Jam in 2018, Sun Yu's The Hole is brutal in simplicity, gradual in difficulty and high in addition. It's creator, Sun Yu graduated is a graduate of Digital Media Design and works as a planner in a game company in Taiwan.

Combining design, art practice and location-based gaming, Troy Innocent's WAYFINDER LIVEE drags gameplay out of the computer console and into the city space.

She and the Light Bearer is a beautiful point and click adventure game from Indonesian Independent developer team Mojiken Studio.

IP Yuk-Yui's To Call A Deer A Horse (指马为鹿) is an experimental videogame about hand-eye coordination, truth-bending and acts of complicity.

LINK: Longitude Exhibition

EVENT: GLITCH EVERYTHING (NOVEMBER 2ND, 2018, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA)

GLITCH EVERYTHING

@LIKELIKE
Friday November 2nd, 2018
7-11PM
During the Unblurred gallery crawl

205 North Evaline St
Pittsburgh, PA

An exhibition of games and playthings exploring the aesthetics of computer errors and data corruption. In an increasingly digitized world happy accidents can contami̵n̵a̴t̷e anything: gli̵t̸ch music, glic̷h̸ ̶p̴a̸i̷n̶t̸ing, ̷g̵l̷i̷t̶c̸h̷ ̸k̸̛̰n̴͔̂i̶̭̿t̸̟͝t̵͍̐ḯ̶̳n̶̥̆g̷͉͂,̷̺̌ ̸̖͑g̴͔̒l̶̟̊í̸͜t̶̘̑c̸̨̀h̶̗̑ ̶̖̀ả̵̪̹̀̂͝r̵̳̹͓̟̓͊̄̕̕c̷̟̈́̐̕h̸͔̲͍͚͔͐͆͛̎̇i̴̲̊t̴̺̋͋͗e̷̺̒̐̓̉̆c̸̻͊̿̉͘ͅṫ̸̯̙̜̖̲ṵ̸̂̍̚r̸̡͈̪̫̐̓e̴͕̣̼͍̱̓́̍͒̕.D̵̼̬͎̞̍̒͝ò̸͔̫̬͔̜n̵̢̨̳͗̍̎’̴̲̒̔̏̚͝t̶̠̤̅̒̀́̚ ̵̠̆͆͌͠͠m̷̮͖̙̰̂͊̄̈́͠ị̶̻̱̱̪͂̅̅̇s̵̯̟̎͒̕̚ș̴̚ ̷̢̧̋ṱ̴̙̆h̶͔̃ẻ̵̞̪͒ ̵̹͉̜͍̯̔͂̈́̈̚l̸̛̰͎̮͚̝ȃ̷̜͒͋̚s̸̞̯͔̤͋͌̒̍͜t̵̢̛͐̒̿ ̵͎̝̜̠̺̄̇L̶̨̩͈̺̝̀̍Î̴͙́K̵̛̙̈̏Ė̸̟̭̃̽̈́ͅL̷̟̝͖͑͜Ḯ̷̦̳͆̔̃̚K̵͉̞͇̓͛͛͜͝E̶̺̮̤̊͜ṡ̷͙͉͍͓̟̳͓̥̱̿̈́̈́̑́̔͊͌̈́̆̏̆͋̃̿̃̈̓̒̆̇̏̈́̽́́̚ḩ̶̛̲͚͚͉̬̲̼̫̩̥̻̫͔̇̋̈̓̉͗͋̽́̈́͗͆̀̏͒̏͛̐̆͐͗̏̔̈́̏͆͠ơ̸̡͙͍͕̜̯̼̬̠͉̙̥͓͙̦̮͕̬͎̗̘͙͉̰̤̣̹̱̞̘̞̱͔̊͑͐̒̋̂̓͐̔̿̑́́̾͒͑̀̎̕̕͘̕͘͠ͅw̵̡̨̡̨̛̛̗͍͍̞̞̣̗͍̯̲͙̙͖͎͇̤̦͇̫͙̗̯͙̬̬̬̞̮̉̍̿̽͂̌̈́̎̓̆̌̈́̌͊̄̎̀̉̀̓̅̂̔͑͐͊́̀̽̀͋͂͝͠ͅͅ ̷̧̛̜̬̤̥͈̠͕̻͎̠̹̙̳̣̆̎̐̇̈́͑͗̍́͊͊͊͒̇̈̒̈́́͐̄̂̀́̚͘͠͠o̶̧̹͕̹̘͕͉̝̻̻̐f̵̢̨̡̢̛̟̠̙͚̬̟̹̭͍̺͙̳͚̟͚͖̖̥̲̼͓̠̺͕̻͈̜̜̳̗͈̀̉͆́̐̈́̾͑́͐̒̅̍̓̑̈͛̋̏͋̔̀̈́̐͊̕̚̕̕̕͝͝͝ ̴̡̢̧̡̛̛͚͓̠̤̠̣̹̝̘̺̻͈͈̠̦͚͍̥̲̜̙͉̪̻̭̬͖̦̀̉́̿̈̎̔̎̔͊̈͛̇̄́͊̎̑̊̃̄͐͂̔͘͘2̶̡͆͊͋͒ͅ0̸̧̧͍͈̦̰̝̤̺͚̭̣͎̹̘̞̳̯̰̞͈̞̰͎̘̞̙̿̾̋̋͑̀̅̓͝͝͝͝1̷̡̨̡̛̹͍̻̜͖̜̠͙̖̩͍͙̜̣͚̩̳͉̮͚̤̣̖͉̤͖͙̠̉͑͐̇̓̽͑̽̔̓͋͌̂̀̓̽̔̒̿̓͌́̂̔̓͌̄̀͘ͅ8̴̴̛̛̛̛̠̪̪̣̯͇͚̪͓̥̤̦̲͚̩̯̮͔̱͙̼̭̳̠͙̖̼̟̭͔͍̰̫͉͛̅̅͋͒̇̂̀͋̍́̈́̎̈́̂̋͛̍̐͊́͂̒̈̃̂̑̍̈́̔̌͒̒̇̋͐̔͗̇͛͘͜͝͠ͅ

Works by: Andi McClure /// Michael Brough /// XRA /// Farbs // Rachel Simone Weil /// Molleindustria + Infiknit Loop

LINK: LIKELIKE

 

EVENT: KEITA TAKAHASHI: ZOOMING OUT (JANUARY 24 - JULY 14 2019, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA)

Keita Takahashi: Zooming Out

Curated by Harry DeLorme, Senior Curator of Education

January 24 - July 14 2019

Telfairs Museum

207 W. York St.
Savannah, GA 31401, USA

Telfairs Museum is hosting a major retrospective on Keita Takahashi between January 24 through July 14, 2019. Curated by Harry DeLorme and subtitled Zooming Out, this first-ever museum survey exhibition of the legendary Japanese video game designer’s work is organized in conjunction with the museum’s annual PULSE Art + Technology Festival. So far there have been a relatively scarce number of exhibitions focusing on single designers (Jason Rohrer comes to mind), which makes Zooming Out even more compelling.

Keita Takahashi, Wild Rumpus and Venus Patrol, Tenya Wanya Teens, 2013

Initially trained as an artist, Takahashi received a degree in Fine Art and Sculpture from Musashino Art University in Tokyo. At the beginning of his professional career, he was hired as a design artist at Namco, where he became the lead developer of Katamari Damacy, a now-iconic game that won awards, spawned sequels, influenced popular culture beyond the game world, and was one of the first video games acquired for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

The exhibition highlights Takahashi’s outside-the-box approach to game development, game mechanics, aesthetics, and music. Included will be playable versions of all of Takahashi’s major games, such as the original Katamari Damacy and its newly remastered edition, KatamariDamacyREROLL, We Love Katamari, Noby Noby Boy, and the eagerly awaited Wattam (Developer: Funomena, Publisher: Annapurna Interactive). In addition to his major game releases, the exhibition includes several of his independent games and collaborative installations, including Tenya Wanya Teens, operated with two 16-button controllers, and a reimagined, immersive take on the classic game PAC-MAN (with Clement Shimizu and Babycastles). The artist’s early sculpture work, animations, and playground designs will also be on view.

Keita Takahashi and Adam Saltsman, Alphabet, 2013

Image: Wattam, 2018, Publisher: Annapurna Interactive, Developer: Funomena

Woorld, 2016, Augmented Reality Game, Developer: Funomena

LINK: Telfair Museums

Event: Chicago New Media 1973–1992 (Nov 1 - Dec 15 2018, Chicago)

Montana, Jane Veeder, Video, 1982. Courtesy of Jane Veeder and VGA Gallery

Chicago New Media 1973–1992

Curated by Jon Cates with assistance from Chaz Evans and Jonathan Kinkley

November 01 - December 15 2018

Gallery 400 
University of Illinois at Chicago
Art and Design Hall, First Floor
400 South Peoria Street (at Van Buren Street)
Chicago, IL 60607

Chicago is not often thought of as a center for new media art, technology, or industry, yet the city was home to some of the earliest and most important experiments in new media in the late 20th century. Chicago New Media 1973–1992 explores the rich exchange between industry and academics during this heady time, chronicling the under-recognized story of Chicago's contributions to new media art by artists at the University of Illinois at Chicago's (UIC) Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and at Midway and Bally games from 1973–92. Generations of now well-known and acclaimed artists, scholars, designers, developers, curators, and organizers have moved through UIC and SAIC, all of whom shaped the development of new media locally as well as on the burgeoning international stage. Chicago New Media 1973–1992 will exhibit a range of ephemera documenting this period of industry incubation and globalization and its connections to new media art.

LINK: Chicago New Media 1973–1992 

Art Game: Alistair Aitcheson's The Book Ritual (2018)

The Book Ritual is a long-term game project by Alistair Aitcheson, an artist and game designer. Development began in 2010 and focuses on the interplay between digital technologies and physical objects, in this case, books. The Book Ritual is played with a tangible, actual printed book, and during the game the player must deface it (OMG!) and tear pages out. The player writes about herself and perform what Aitcheson calls "creativity exercise" in its pages, but in order to play, the player must also  destroy pages. The Book Ritual is about 2 hours long.

 

It's a free download from Itch.io.

As Aitcheson explains, 

 

it currently says "beta" on it, and that's because I'm waiting for more feedback before I decide "this is the final version!" - once it's final, it will continue to be a free download

 

I love the Dada nature of this project, but I don't think I could ever deface a copy of BEE's American Psycho... Nonetheless, the designer's rationale for creating this game is fascinating. Here's an excerpt:

Indeed, to destroy books is taboo, and there’s a solid historical precedent for why. I’m certainly not trying to say that destroying literature is a good idea. What I am trying to do is tell a story about guilt and loss. If the player feels guilty in the process of destroying their book, if it feels like they're losing something with innate value, it means they are acting out the emotion I want them to explore. 

Alistair Aitchenson is a game developer and has developed games since 2001, starting up as a one-man studio in 2010. In 2010 he graduated with a first class Masters degree in Mathematics with Study Abroad from the University of Warwick. During his degree he spent one year studying at the elite Ecole Normale Supérieur in Lyon, France. As well as his own projects he works as a freelance designer-developer. He has worked on web game projects for the BBC, and regularly produces games for the education technology company Sparx Limited. Alistair frequently exhibits his gamesat exhibitions in the UK and abroad, and regularly gives conference talks about his experiences.

 

LINK: Alistair Aitchenson (all images and videos courtesy of the Artist)

 

Video: AAA Collective's ACID GAMES (2018)

JUNE 20, 2018/20 GIUGNO 2018
Aula seminari
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milano

Filming: Lorenzo Mosna

AAA COLLECTIVE
ACID GAMES

In this talk, members of the collective AAA (Merle Leufgen, Gabriel Helfenstein, Troy Duguid, Chloe Langford, Jessica Palmer) will present their work and reflect on their collaborative practices which intent to propose an alternative to the often accepted thinking that the way we live and organize society is the only possible way. The aim of the talk will be to show how games and collaborative exchange in game development can help break the inertia resulting from the perceived lack of possibles disrupting the current status quo - in our everyday lives as well as in the production of art.

Active in Berlin, the AAA Collective comprises artists, designers, and creators from all over the world. Its founding members are Merle Leufgen, a software artist, curator and independent researcher, Gabriel Helfenstein, a French transmedia artist, curator, and writer, Troy Duguid, and Australian artist working with game engines, and Jessica Palmer, a Canadian multimedia artist interested in neuroscience.

LINK: AAA Collective