GAMESCENES

CALL FOR PAPERS: GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S) (DiGRA 2025, MALTA)

 

GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S), DiGRA 2025

June 30th at DiGRA2025 (University of Malta)

The workshop intends to explore the implications of the widespread use of videogame engines in visual culture and the creative industries. Game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine have transcended their initial confines in videogame development, evolving into versatile platforms that now influence a wide array of creative and scientific fields. These powerful tools are not just limited to gaming; they have reshaped Hollywood visual effects, virtual production, and even pre-visualisation of movie sets, as well as contemporary art and architecture. Game engines are also utilised to create training simulations for various industries, including the military.

As these engines standardise aesthetic and functional practices, they simultaneously raise critical questions about artistic authorship, expressive diversity, accessibility, environmental sustainability, and the impact of increased digital consumption. The workshop aims to critically examine the contemporary use of game engines within the visual arts. It seeks to explore the convergence of media studies, game studies, platform studies, curatorial practice, and art history.

The workshop draws on the ongoing work of the curators in this field. They have organised an art exhibition (School of Digital Arts, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2022), a workshop (University of Liverpool, 2023) and are now curating an edited collection on the subject (Mimesis International, to be published in 2025).

The workshop will take place on June 30th at the University of Malta, in the framework of DiGRA2025. Participants will deliver 20-minute presentations of their work, followed by Q&A. Presentations will be divided into sub-thematic sessions, and presenters within the same session will be expected to read each other’s paper. Both in-real-life and online presentations will be possible. In selecting the final list of speakers we will be mindful of issues of representation in relation to gender, race, geographical background and career level.

Please submit a 300-word abstract by Friday 4th April to the organisers:

Paolo Ruffino [email protected]
Matteo Bittanti [email protected]
Valentino Catricalà [email protected]

Notification of acceptance: Monday 21st April

Workshop date: June 30th (University of Malta)

Essential bibliography

Atkinson, Paul, and Parsayi, Farnaz, ‘Institutionalized Aesthetics: Video Games and the Contemporary Art Gallery’, Games and Culture, 0.0 (2024), https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120241246839.

Charrieras, Damien, and Ivanova, Nadejda, ‘Emergence in Video Game Production: Video Game Engines as Technical Individuals’, Social Science Information, 55.3 (2016), pp. 337-356, https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018416642056.

Chia, Aleena, Malazita, James, Young, Chris J., Nieborg, David B., Joseph, Daniel J., and Gantt, Matthew D., ‘The Engine Is the Message: Videogame Infrastructure and the Future of Digital Platforms’, paper presented at AoIR2022: The 23rd Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Dublin, Ireland, 2-5 November 2022.

Chia, Aleena, ‘The Artist and the Automaton in Digital Game Production’, Convergence, 28.2 (2022), pp. 389–412, https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565221076434.

Chia, Aleena, ‘The Metaverse, but Not the Way You Think: Game Engines and Automation Beyond Game Development’, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 39.3 (2022), pp. 191–200, https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2022.2080850.

Chia, Aleena, Keogh, Brendan, Leorke, Dale, and Nicoll, Benjamin, ‘Platformisation in Game Development’, Internet Policy Review, 9.4 (2020), https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/platformisation-game-development.

Freedman, Eric, The Persistence of Code in Game Engine Culture (London: Routledge, 2019).

Foxman, Maxwell, ‘United We Stand: Platforms, Tools and Innovation With the Unity Game Engine’, Social Media + Society, 5.4 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119880177.

Lohmeyer, Eddie, Unstable Aesthetics: Game Engines and the Strangeness of Modding (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021).

Malazita, Jim, Enacting Platforms: Feminist Technoscience and the Unreal Engine (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2024).

Nicoll, B., and Keogh, B., The Unity Game Engine and the Circuits of Cultural Software (New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2019)

Nideffer, Robert F., ‘Game Engines as Embedded Systems’, in Database Aesthetics: Art in the Age of Information Overflow, ed. by Victoria Vesna (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2007), pp. 211–232.

Curators bio

Paolo Ruffino is Senior Lecturer in Digital Curation and Computational Creativity at the department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, UK. Ruffino has been investigating the independent production of videogames, labour unions in the videogame industry, and nonhuman and posthuman play in the digital age. He is the author of Future Gaming: Creative Interventions in Video Game Culture (Goldsmiths/MIT Press 2018), editor of Independent Videogames: Cultures, Networks, Techniques and Politics (Routledge, 2021) and author of articles for Games and Cultures; Television and New Media; Critical Studies in Media Communication; and GAME The Italian Journal of Game Studies. He is currently working on a new monograph for MIT Press, titled Videogames for the Post-Anthropocene (to be published in Fall 2026).

Matteo Bittanti is Associate Professor in Media Studies at IULM University in Milan, Italy and a Lecturer in the Faculty of the Master of Arts in Algorithmic and Networked Photography at ELISAVA, in Barcelona, Spain. Bittanti is the artistic director of the Milan Machinima Festival and director of the online platform VRAL. His latest publications include Game-driven Video Art. Cinema, videogames, machinima (Mimesis Edizioni, 2025), Fotoludica. Photography, video games 3 between art and documentation (with Marco De Mutiis, Mimesis Edizioni, 2025), The Photographer’s Guide to Los Santos (with Marco De Mutiis, Mimesis International, 2024). Bittanti lives in Los Angeles.

Valentino Catricalà is the curator of the SODA Gallery, Modal, in Manchester (UK) and a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research and curatorial practice focus on the relationship between artists and new technologies. Valentino holds a PhD from Roma Tre University and has been a visiting lecturer in at ZKM (Karlsruhe), Tate Modern (London), University of Dundee (Dundee), and LIMA (Amsterdam). As a curator, he has worked for many international art institutions such as the Hermitage (San Petersburg), Minnesota Street Project (San Francisco), New York Media Center (New York), Fondazione Stelline (Milan), MAXXI Museum (Rome), Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome), Ca' Foscari (Venice), Indian Art Faire - New Dheli Italian Cultural Institute (India), and Spatiu Intact (Romania).

CALL FOR ARTWORKS: FILE SP 2025 (DEADLINE: JANUARY 15 2025)

FILE 2025 – Open Call – Art and Technology

FILE is now accepting applications for the 2025 edition, inviting artists, creators, developers and researchers to submit their projects. This is a unique opportunity to exhibit your work in São Paulo, from July 15 to September 7, 2025, at the renowned FIESP Cultural Center.

We seek innovative and creative projects that integrate art and technology, both national and international, covering diverse areas such as installations, robotics, CGI, virtual and augmented realities, animations, mobile art, games, kinetic art, public art and much more. We value proposals that explore interaction with the public and the use of Artificial Intelligence, in various formats of artistic expression.

As a non-profit cultural organization, FILE promotes experimentation and development in the field of Art and Technology, providing a platform for artists to connect with new audiences. In this 24th edition, the festival continues its commitment to exploring the boundaries between technology and art.

You can also take advantage of the chance to participate in the FILE LED SHOW, exhibited annually at the FIESP Digital Art Gallery, or to lead a session at the FILE WORKSHOP. Sign up using the form and check the guidelines in the regulations.

Project submission: until January 15, 2025

FILE SP 2025: from July 15 to September 7, 2025

Read more about the submission

FILE FESTIVAL

CALL FOR PAPERS: ARTS AND GAMES (DEADLINE: DECEMBER 13 2024)

The fields of arts and games are continuously and progressively intersecting, creating hybrids and cultural frames, mutually influencing each other. This is not new; arts have been using games as subject and material for millennia from depictions of athletes in ancient Greek sculpture to Yoko Ono’s All White Chess Set (1966) and from Caravaggio’s Cardsharps (1594) to Harold Hejazi’s game performance series Adventures of Harriharri. Weiqi, or as it is named in the West, Go, was one of the four arts a scholar should master in ancient China. However, games are increasingly recognized as having artistic qualities after the cultural ascendancy of digital games.  

Games as a form of expression, and gaming as a performative practice, hold significant artistic potential. They are used for artistic self-expression, both within recognized art worlds and in alternative and emerging fan-based art practices across different forms of media. These renegade art worlds challenge traditional curatorial practices. Popular triple-A digital games have been placed within artistic discourse and practice, both when existing games are used as platforms for artistic interventions, such as Joseph DeLappe’s dead-in-iraq (2006-2011) or Brent Watanabe’s San Andreas Streaming Deer Cam (2016), but also in the aesthetic experience they create without additional modding.  

The cross-pollination between arts and games is particularly strong right now. Art history has been a constant inspiration for visual and sound design in games, establishing structures of expectation and shaping player experience through points of reference, or by directly utilizing various aesthetics such as, surrealism, renaissance paintings, and medieval illumination. Furthermore, interest in what games can offer art practices has been strengthening. Features such as structured participation, instruction-based performance, 8-bit aesthetics, virtual co-presence, exploration, and simulation have made games a significant part of contemporary media arts. From JODI’s Untitled Game series (1996-2001) to Zach Gage’s Lose/Lose (2009), Harun Farocki’s Serious Games I-IV (2011), or Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s The Lack: I Knew Your Voice before You Spoke (2023), digital games have become medium, topic, and site of artistic practice. Similarly, live action role-playing is used both as a generative engine in visual arts, like in Brody Condon’s Twentyfivefold Manifestations(2008), and as the heart of the performance as in Pihla Lehtinen’s Do Crime (2019) or Signa’s Das 13. Jahr (2023).  

Arts and Games are coming together all kinds of ways. Games are also a way for art museums to show their collections or offer alternative paths to art, with games about art, artists, and art worlds – like Reiner Knizia’s Modern Art (1992). The aesthetics and functions of digital games also allow for idea-historical perspectives. By pointing out the intersections and parallels between experience, design, and reception of digital games and historical phenomena of arts (ranging from painting and literature to theater and architecture) entirely new perspectives on existing works of art can be enabled. 

To play around with all this, the spring seminar of Game Research Lab wants to carve a space for a discussion of artistic approaches to games and ludic approaches to art. We are not looking to discuss if games fit in the arts, but how the multiple fields of games and arts intersect and tickle each other. As always, we encourage interesting interpretations of ‘games’ and ‘arts’.  

With all that in mind, the list of possible topics includes but is not limited to: 

• • (Playing) games as expressive forms 
  • Artistry of games 
  • Games in art 
  • Artistic vibes in games 
  • Art on games 
  • Games as material and/or medium in arts 
  • Curating/exhibiting/presenting game art 
  • Application of theoretical and methodological approaches from the field of art practice and theory 
  • Aesthetics and experience 
  • Curatorial practices/research in relation to games 
  • Diegetic Art in games 
  • Games as art 
  • Artistic appreciation of games 
  • Artistic praxis in games 
  • Games in the cultural heritage sector 

Seminar information 

Arts and Games is the 21st annual spring seminar organised by the Tampere University Game Research Lab. The seminar emphasises work-in-progress submissions, and we strongly encourage submitting late-breaking results, working papers, as well as submissions from graduate and PhD researchers. The purpose of the seminar is to have peer-to-peer discussions and thereby provide support in refining and improving research work in this area. The seminar is organised in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies and Games as Art Center. 

The papers to be presented will be chosen based on extended abstract review. Full papers are distributed prior to the event to all participants, in order to facilitate discussion. There will be two invited expert commentators to provide feedback on the papers. 

The seminar is potentially looking into partnering with a publisher so that the best papers would be invited to be further developed into publication. In the past, we have collaborated with e.g. Analog Game Studies, Games and Culture, Games: Research and Practice, International Journal of Role-Playing, Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, Simulation & Gaming, and ToDiGRA journals. 

The seminar will be held at Tampere University, Finland, on 26-27 March 2025. The event is free of charge. 

Submission guidelines 

The papers will be selected for presentation based on extended abstracts of 500–1000 words (plus references). Abstracts should be delivered in PDF format. Full paper guidelines will be provided with the notification of acceptance. 

Our aim is that all participants can familiarise themselves with the papers in advance. Therefore, the maximum length for a full paper is 5000 words (plus references). The seminar presentations should encourage discussion, instead of repeating the information presented in the papers. Every paper will be presented for 10 minutes and discussed for 20 minutes. 

Submissions should be sent through this form.

All information will be updated on the seminar website: https://springseminar.org 

Organisers can be contacted at: [email protected]  

Important dates 

• • Abstract deadline: 13 December 2024 
  • Notification of acceptance: 10 January 2025 
  • Full paper deadline: 5 March 2025 
  • Seminar dates: 26-27 March 2025 

 Organising team

Aska Mayer, Mark Maletska, Leland Masek, Jaakko Stenros, Essi Taino, & Heikki Tyni 

LINK: Arts and Games Seminar

CALL FOR PAPERS: GAME ENGINE CULTURE(S) (DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 15 2024)

Project overview

Game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine have transcended their initial confines in video game development, evolving into versatile platforms that now influence a wide array of creative and scientific fields. These powerful tools are not just limited to gaming; they have reshaped Hollywood visual effects, virtual production, and even pre-visualisation of movie sets, as well as contemporary art and architecture. Game engines are also utilised to create training simulations for various industries, including the military. As these engines standardise aesthetic and functional practices, they simultaneously raise critical questions about artistic authorship, expressive diversity, accessibility, environmental sustainability, and the impact of increased digital consumption.

Entitled Game Engine Culture(s), this international research initiative aims to critically examine the contemporary use of game engines within the visual arts. It seeks to explore the convergence of media studies, game studies, platform studies, curatorial practice, and art history. Through in-depth analysis and prototyping under the guidance of artists and practitioners, the project investigates methods to preserve authorship and foster critique within complex digital ecosystems. Our objective is to collaborate with scholars, artists, curators, critics, and practitioners to generate new insights into the social, aesthetic, and technical dimensions of game engines.

Call for papers details

The Department of Art, Media, and Performance “Giampaolo Fabris” at IULM University, Milan, the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London, under the guidance of Matteo Bittanti, Valentino Catricalà, and Paolo Ruffino, invite scholars, artists, developers, and practitioners to submit abstracts for a forthcoming publication and series of collaborative research activities centered around the theme of Game Engine Culture(s).

We welcome submissions that explore, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• The transformative impact of game engines on visual culture and artistic expression;
• Critical analyses of aesthetic standardization and homogeneity in production management and 'pipelines' across different fields;
• The circulation of digital assets across diverse fields of cultural production;
• Platformisation tendencies and commercial interests driving game engine development;
• The role of game engines in promoting or hindering diversity and accessibility in digital art and culture;
• Case studies on specific artists (e.g., Ed Atkins, Alice Bucknell, Ian Cheng, Jacky Connolly, Lawrence Lek, Lu Yang and many more);
• ​The use of game engines beyond gaming, including in film, architecture, and other creative industries;
• ​The accessibility of game engines for diverse populations and their role in democratizing digital art creation, including related narratives and discourses;
• The techno-ideologies and geopolitics of game engines;
• Sustainable practices and the challenge of e-waste in the context of game engine proliferation;
• Strategies for preserving artistic authorship and originality within game engine ecosystems.

Game Engine Culture(s) is fully funded by IULM University, ensuring comprehensive support throughout its development. The resulting publication, scheduled to be released in English, will be published by a leading academic publisher, guaranteeing wide dissemination and accessibility within the scholarly community. To accompany the release of the book, we are planning various events, including conferences, talks, screenings, and more.

Important dates

• Abstract submission deadline: September 15, 2024
• Notification of acceptance: October 15, 2024
• Full paper submission deadline: December 15, 2024
• Publication date: 2025

Submission guidelines

• Abstracts: Should be between 300-500 words, clearly outlining the research question, methodology, bibliography, and potential contributions to the field.
• Biographies: Please include a brief biography of the author(s) with the abstract submission.
• Full papers: Should be between 6,000-8,000 words, including references and footnotes, formatted according to MHRA style. Please use British English.
• Format: Submit your chapter as a .docx or .pdf file.
• Submission email: Send submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “Game Engine Cultures Submission”.

Contact information

For further information, please contact:

• Matteo Bittanti: [email protected]
• Paolo Ruffino: [email protected]
• Valentino Catricalà: [email protected]

This call seeks to foster innovative research trajectories both conceptually and methodologically, promoting an original and interdisciplinary approach to studying the impact of game engines on contemporary visual culture. By bringing together experts from various disciplines and creative sectors, this project not only aims to map the state of the art but also to delineate new future research directions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to fostering rich discussions and insights into the complex nexus of game engines and contemporary visual culture.

image: Game Engine, by Dall-E, 2024

CFA: NOUVELLE BUG VOL. 3 (DEADLINE: JUNE 15 2024)

Il Varco and Lago Film Fest are delighted to announce the third edition of the internationally acclaimed residency, Nouvelle Bug. This unique program is dedicated to the exploration and production of cinema within the realms of video games and Artificial Intelligence. Set against the picturesque backdrop of Revine Lago, this intensive week-long experience combines webinars and live lessons designed to immerse participants in the experimental frontier of Cinema. Under the guidance of the most renowned filmmakers in this niche, attendees will not only gain invaluable insights but also actively engage in the creation of avant-garde short films. Arrive with ideas and leave with a masterpiece that pushes the boundaries of traditional filmmaking.

The workshop is designed to familiarize participants with cutting-edge techniques, supporting them through the development and production phases of their short film projects. Moreover, these projects will have the opportunity to compete for awards offered by prestigious partners such as Gargantua Distribution, Gioia Film, Sayonara Film, and Lago Film Fest.

Participants will explore new aesthetics and solutions introduced by the widespread use of artificial intelligence, learning to adopt a machine-like perspective. This approach not only opens up new vistas for storytelling but also prompts a reflection on humanity’s god-like role in software creation and its implications for our future.

Through this workshop, filmmakers will embark on a journey to discover and harness the unique narrative power of digital worlds, translating them into compelling cinematic experiences. Nouvelle Bug stands as a beacon for those eager to pioneer the fusion of technology and art, offering a platform to redefine the essence of storytelling in the digital age.

TUTORS

The tutors for the workshop include:

• Andrea Gatopoulos, a Rome-based film producer and director with a background in Modern Literature from Sapienza University, Rome. His work, which explores virtual environments, includes the project Bit-Reality and the short film Happy New Year, Jim, presented at the 54th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes. His productions have been featured in over 100 festivals worldwide, such as Cannes, Venice, Rotterdam, and Camerimage.

• Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis, an artist and filmmaker trained at Le Fresnoy, known for exploring the intersection of identity, technology, and the virtual world. His work Maalbeek,a deep dive into the fragmented memory of a Brussels terrorist attack victim, was selected for the 59th La Semaine de la Critique and won the 2022 César for Best Short Documentary.

• Total Refusal Crew, a pseudo-Marxist media guerrilla group focusing on the artistic intervention within mainstream video games to expose their underlying political messages. Their films have been showcased at numerous festivals, including Berlinale and Locarno, and their research has been featured in museums and art fairs globally.

• Gala Hernández López, an artist filmmaker and researcher applying a feminist and critical perspective to analyze discourses within virtual communities. Her film La Mécanique des fluides won the 2024 César for Best Documentary Short Film and the 2023 Experimental Work Award from la Scam (France), among other accolades. She regularly conducts workshops and lectures at prestigious institutions and festivals.

IMPORTANT DATES

March 28th 2024 Opening of the call for entries

June 15th 2024 Closing of the call for entries

June 28th 2024 Announcement of the 30 selected directors

August 18th 2024 Start of the workshop

October 1st 2024Selection of the winning project

Learn more

Apply

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: MASTER IN ALGORITHMIC AND NETWORKED PHOTOGRAPHY

Master’s Degree in Algorithmic and Networked Photography

Degre issued by UVic-UCC

Directed by Jon Uriarte, Marco De Mutiis

ECTS credits: 60

Language: English

September – June 2024

ELISAVA

La Rambla 30-32

08002 Barcelona

Spain

The photographic image has been radically transformed by its recent digital and networked developments. The impact and relevance of photography today lies not only in its representational layer, but beyond the visual surface of the image. Its invisible algorithmic and networked properties turned traditional photography into an assemblage of intertwined apparatuses, agents and media. Contemporary forms of digital images capture, circulation and consumption have been redefining the role of the photographic as an expanded and exciting field of visual culture in constant mutation. From AI generated images and computer-generated imagery to screenshotting, from CGI to Photoshop, from VR to in-game photography, practices of image-making and modes of experiencing visual art have created a vast and rich territory, explored by contemporary artists, photographers, curators, researchers, technologists and designers.

The Master in Algorithmic and Networked Images offers an uncompromising investigation into the world of chronically digital images and terminally online visual culture. Through a series of lectures and workshops from some of the most relevant and inspiring actors in the field, this one-year master programme combines a sharply curated scholarly foundation with an intense practical education. Creative, conceptual and critical, the programme provides you with theoretical and practical knowledge of post-photography, AI images, networked images, machine vision and synthetic imaging. It invites participants to reflect upon the social, political and economic implications of different technological imaging systems. Simultaneously, the programme encourages you to experiment and create with hardware and software, as well as appropriating and misusing media platforms through artistic and alternative forms of image-making.

Read more

OPEN CALL: NOW PLAY THIS: LIMINAL. THE SPACE IN BETWEEN (DEADLINE: OCTOBER 11 2023)

press release

"Now Play This returns to Somerset House in Spring 2024 with a new edition of the festival. As in previous years we want to use the festival to delve into a pressing subject, and find ways that games can shed a new light on the unexpected aspects of it. And so, for 2024 we are excited to announce…

LIMINAL. The spaces in between

The theme of the upcoming 2024 edition will revolve around one word: LIMINAL. We aim to explore the spaces in-between.  Liminal can refer to a feeling, a concept, a reality. It may describe a work that defies labelling, a mental state, or the geopolitical situation many face today.  The term ‘liminal’ refers to a state of transition—it could signify the onset of a new phase or the suspension between worlds. Heidegger posited that each work of art opens a world. In truth, they open multiple worlds: those of the artists and those of the audience, or the interactor. Now Play This, therefore, will not only invite visitors into the artists’ imaginations but also encourage them to uncover facets of their own worlds. Amid this convergence, we may find ourselves journeying through the spaces in-between.

OPEN CALL
Deadline: 11.59pm Wednesday 11th October
Submission form

For this new edition we’re once again opening up a call for playful makers and creators to tell us about their work.

We are looking for games (digital, non-digital or mixed), installations, playful activities and workshops in a variety of shapes and expressions that align with the theme of this edition. We are open to other interpretations of the theme, but we do ask you to demonstrate clearly how the work submitted connects to it.

Think about your body, the space that surrounds you and how you perceive it, about the way you relate to others. Think of the immersive walkable woven installations of Ernesto Neto where you can lose your sense of self and feel like walking on air, or the surrealist creations of Bernardo Erlich that play with the senses and invite us to wonder about parallel realities. It could be any playable installation or site specific work that toys around space, light and materials and invites its audience to jump into new worlds like Mary Poppins paintings or Alice’s rabbit hole. Think also about architectural wonderlike gameworlds like the worlds Moshe Linke or Connor Sherlock create, or mystic scenarios where the rules fade away such as Proteus, or even platformer games like Limbo. Think also about games that deal with migration and blurry limits as political manifestos like Bury me, my Love or Papers Please.

Now, switch perspectives, close your eyes and look inside you. Think about the transitions you made or are going through, about the person you used to be and who you are now or who you want to become. Think about that feeling of being between stages that we all have at different points of our life. It could be something abstract like Gris or a life inspired game as Mainichi. A psychological experience such as What remains of Edith Finch or a narrative journey as Kentucky Route Zero.

All in all, liminality exists on the margins, the borders, and the transitions. Liminality is all about the-spaces-in-between.

Your proposal can:

• • touch on the concept of liminality from an aesthetic perspective whether it is from a narrative, visual or experiential way. 
  • investigate liminality from a social, conceptual or theoretical perspective.
  • defy traditional categories and be about playfulness, experimentation and creation.
  • envision different presents and futures. It should be a work that fosters new cultures and identities. 
  • reflect critically on the meaning of being in liminality as a transitional state of living from a political outlook, a psychological approach, a queer perspective or a cultural point of view. 

We are particularly interested in proposals (games, playful installations and activities) that:

• • are games (digital or physical) that give the player a non-traditional position
  • take place outdoors, re appropriating and re-signifying public space, creating liminal experiences between public and private: e.g. walks, street games, sounds landscapes.
  • family friendly experiences that foster the interaction and dialogue between family members. 
  • liminal playful activities inspired, centred or around games that can happen either on-site or virtually. For instance tours within a game, alternative ways of playing together, conversation encounters around existing games from an outside videogames perspective.
  • workshops and talks around liminality and games, whether it refers to the game making process, aspects of games themselves or the world around them.

We welcome submissions of unfinished or prototype work, and can work with creators to realise a finished piece for the festival.

We aim to be as inclusive as possible and work to accommodate all access requirements. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with [email protected]! We will happily discuss and tailor how we do things to support you as best we can. 

To submit your idea please complete the open call form here. If you can, try to submit before the deadline since we’ll be reading all submissions as they come in.

Additional information:

We strongly encourage submissions from marginalised and underrepresented creatives within games and playful art.
The festival pays a honorarium for exhibited projects and provides all hardware required to display (where applicable). We can also cover additional expenses required to showcase work depending on the scope of the piece.

While we would love to see you there, creators are not required to attend the festival for their work to be presented, and we are actively seeking to reduce the impact of travel associated with festivals like ours. If a work is dependent on your presence, e.g. an outdoor workshop, then we will cover limited train travel and accommodation expenses. We are open to working with you on realising your submission without your presence on site, either by supporting you to run your work online/remotely, by training facilitators and/or players to deliver your work based upon materials or instructions that you provide, or by other creative means.

We will aim to respond to all submissions by Thursday 30th November. Due to the volume of submissions we receive we will not be able to provide detailed feedback. 

If you have any other queries, comments or feedback then please email [email protected]"

LINK: Now Play This: LIMINAL. The space in between open call (special thanks to María Luján Oulton)

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: PHOTOGRAPHY IN VIRTUAL CULTURE (DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 18 2023)

Following the first successful Virtual Photography Symposium held at the University of Westminster, London in 2022, the University of Westminster are delighted to announce the call for contributions to a new International Conference Photography in Virtual Culture in May 2024. The conference is organised in collaboration with The Photographers’ Gallery who will co-host the event. The aim is to develop a communal space for discussion, forming critiques, thinking and making what can be called ‘virtual photography’.

The last decade has seen a clear shift in the operational frameworks for the production, dissemination and consumption of photographs in contemporary computerised societies. The representational function of the medium is progressively converted to algorithmic and generative processes through computerized connectivity and control. Recent developments of AI systems and expanded reality technologies have exponentially changed the possibilities for image making and the ways in which photographic images might be created and used within, and beyond, virtual space. While this might be exciting times for creators, thinkers and developers, it is also a pivotal moment in the history of the photographic medium, with debates about its materiality, social function and essence taking place.

We invite proposals presenting the following subjects:
• AI, Generative and Synthetic Images
• Digital Communities and Critical practices
• Datasets and Ethics
• Computation and Virtual Space
• Theories of Virtuality
• Digital Labour and Environments
• Sexuality and Vision
• Games and Narratives
• Photography Education
• Virtual Image Systems

We invite conference papers in the form of 20-minute presentations, talks, collaborations, critical essays and visual arguments, addressing any of the above or related topics. We also invite proposals for participatory workshops and demonstrations.

Please send a 200-word proposal, alongside a 50-word biography of each participant, by no later than 18th September 2023 to: [email protected]

If you are proposing a practice or artist talk, please include relevant examples of your work and a link to the project when possible. Selected proposals will be announced in October. All presented papers will be considered for publication in an edited volume.

Unfortunately, we are unlikely to be able fund any travel, visa or accommodation expenses. Registration fees, lunch and refreshments will be covered for participant speakers by the organisers. We plan to hold the event at both the University of Westminster (Regent St Campus) and The Photographers’ Gallery in London. A fee is available to speakers/performers/workshop leaders who aren’t in institutionally-affiliated or in full-time employment.

Should you have any questions, please contact:
[email protected]

Download the call as a .pdf

Conference Convenors
Dr. Paula Gortázar, Lecturer in Photography, University of Westminster Prof. David Bate, Professor of Photography, University of Westminster
In partnership with Digital Programme at The Photographers’ Gallery

LINK: Unthinking Photography

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: GAIA 2023 (DEADLINE: JAN 30 2023)

The third Game Arts International Assembly will be happening June 5-7th, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. With a participant cap of 20, GAIA is an intimate symposium for game art curators and game community organizers to level up their professional development and connect with their international peers. In addition to on site talks sharing personal experiences, playful workshops, and practical sessions, GAIA will include field trips to different locations in the city.

Our previous editions have included talks about illegal LAN games in Havana neighbourhoods, workshops on finding funding to showcase games, panels on challenging the hegemony of English in the industry, and the collective creation of resources like the Game Arts Curators Kit. Check out our previous programming schedules (2019, 2021) for more.

GAIA is also part of the inaugural Toronto Games Week which will feature a variety of parties, launches and other game culture events organized by the local community between June 1-7th. 

Deadline is midnight EDT on Jan. 30th, 2023.

Apply here (Thanks to Jim Munroe and Marie LeBlanc Flanagan)

Read more about GAIA

CALL FOR ENTRIES: FILE 2023 (DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15 2023)

 

One of the most exciting digital arts festivals in the world, FILE - Electronic Language International Festival has recently launched its 2023. After a three years hiatus, FILE is back in grand style. Applications will be open from December 19th to February 15th.

 

The 22nd Edition of the Electronic Language International Festival will take place at the FIESP Cultural Center, in São Paulo, from July 5th to August 27th 2023. The selected projects will also be able to collaborate in parallel events in different states of Brazil, also taking place in 2023. The submission is free of charge.

FILE 2023 focuses on four  categories: Electronic Sound, Interactive Art, Digital Language (including video games and machinima, VR and AR) and Educational.

Click here for more information about the submission process. (Thank you Clarissa!)