Where will games take us in an age of multi-user play, drone pilots, and constantly improved graphics? Artist Mark Tribe speaks on his exhibition Rare Earth and the intersections between videogames, art history, simulation, politics, and war.
video We’ve reached the moment in history where robots are learning how to organize and place objects autonomously. From the opinion section on The Week, Cornell roboticists have built and successfully tested a canny new housecleaning bot. Of course, building a machine that “knows” where to put you
Dave Itzkoff’s review of “Sleep No More,” a site-specific theatre installation in a Chelsea (NY) demonstrates what happens when the threshold between videogames, alternate-reality games, theatre and drama are blurred. Created by British theatre group Punchdrunk, and produced with the help of Emursiv
video Contemporary artist Tom Sachs’ SPACE PROGRAM: MARS takes us as close to Mars as many of us will ever get. With the help of public art organization Creative Time, Sachs recreates the Martian landscape in the 55,000 square foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall of the Park Ave. Armory. The immersive inst
MoMA kicked off Contemporary Art Forum: Critical Play—The Game as an Art Form last night with an overview of critical and artist led play. Here are some quotes from the first session: Mary Flanagan: “Is thinking about games as an art form tied to the historic exchanges specific to art history, or is
video Xavier Aaronson’s review for The Creators Project of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) spring exhibition demonstrates the importance of art, technology and play, Upon entering this year’s show, held this past Monday and Tuesday, I was greeted with a wonderful assault on the se
As a visitor it’s easy to overlook the amount of work that goes on in maintaining a videogame exhibition or collection. Jeff DiOrio’s interview with the Strong Museum’s Jon-Paul Dyson, the director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) in Rochester, NY remedies this
Jason Rohrer is ready to take on the Nintendo DS with his new game Diamond Trust of London. A Kickstarter page is devoted to the project and will help out manufacturing costs. The game involves outfoxing and bribery, Diamond Trust is a two-player, turn-based, simultaneous-decision strategy game abou
Land art is an appreciation of earthy materials churned into something new. Videogames—mechanical, artificial and synthetic—can gain something from the principles behind this form of art. Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP leads the way—but there are some foothills along the trek.
Could you live without the word ‘moist’? What if ‘leap’ replaced ‘jump’? Words shape our surroundings and perceptions. The New Yorker’s new social game, know as “Questioningly,” is focused on our relationship to words. Here’s how Ben Greenman explains it, We’ll pose a question, and then ask you to a
Gamasutra is great coverage of Tyler Deangelo’s Fifth Ave. Frogger. From Mike Rose,
Inspired by an episode of Seinfield, in which George Costanza is trying to keep his high score in a
In Carol Vogel’s NY Times article it was noted that Christian Marclay’s “The Clock” would be returning to New York. The post covers several exhibitions but here is the run down on “The Clock”: The work, a 24-hour montage of clips from movies and television that depict particular minutes in the day,
Ben Davis’ coverage of Rhizome’s “Seven on Seven” for Artinfo speaks to the connectivity of technology, how it will be remembered, and how we can rekindle our humanity in an era of over-saturated digital influence. When even the technologists start thinking that technology might be a little too over
Dan Hurley’s “Can You Make Yourself Smarter” in the NY Times delves into the use of games for increased cognitive benefits, Psychologists have long regarded intelligence as coming in two flavors: crystallized intelligence, the treasure trove of stored-up information and how-to knowledge (the sort of
In South Korea the testing of robot prison guards is underway. Torie Bosch of Slate reports, In November, officials estimated that the month-long test, involving three 5-foot robots, would cost 1 billion South Korean won, or about $900,000. That doesn’t include the cost of developing the machines. B
From ARTINFO, Kyle Chayka, (also Kill Screen contributor) reports that MIT is poised to further blur the creative boundaries between art, science and technology. Known as the Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST) the well-funded project is supported through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The
The digital realm may end the era of book covers. Videogames are in safer territories in some ways. The title design of a game can be imaginative and iconic. The PBS Off Book series released a new episode titled, “The Art of Film & TV Title Design,” that speaks to the power of an opening sequence:
In the past few weeks the Smithsonian Art of Videogames was poorly received, the NY Times wrote on “stupid” games and Keiji Inafune discussed why Japanese games are lacking direction. And now, Taylor Clark’s piece in The Atlantic on Jonathan Blow: Never mind that they’re now among the most lucrative
Video A new documentary on the demoscene, Moleman 2 – Demoscene – The Art of the Algorithms, is out on YouTube. Moleman 2 is about the demoscene subculture, told by mostly Hungarian sceneres, but it features also some other nationalities. As an impact of the spreading of computer technology, some ne
The couture of Final Fantasy consists of characters with bountiful belt buckles who are overly zealous about zippers. This is what we’re accustomed to. The recent Final Fantasy XIII and Prada crossover however has gained a lot of buzz for how strange it is. The creative minds behind the project have
The Strong Museum’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) is one of the largest repositories for the preservation of videogames and play. Check out Tom Callaway’s blog post for a rare view into the collection. Keep in mind it’s only a small glimpse into a collection of ove
Videogames are going public! Over in Manchester street artist Filthy Luker, with some help from Red Stripe, has created an outdoor, wall-sized and playable version of Space Invaders. Luker adds a bit of personal flare to the game by using traffic cones, road signs and LED lights, “I’ve been obsessed
I’m confused by the different reviews of The Art of Videogames at the Smithsonian. Should we really be alright with an exhibition in easy mode? Seth Shiesel’s “An Exhibition in Easy Mode,” from the New York Times summarizes what went wrong, “The Art of Video Games” is a sanitized, uncontroversial an
