Of Art and Fun - The Game/Play Blog

Game/Play: "Playful interaction and goal-oriented gaming explored through media arts practice" is a "networked national touring exhibition focusing on the rhetorical constructs game and play." Before you go much further, let me stress the phrase "rhetorical constructs." I think it should tell you everything you need to know about the focus and flair of this particular exhibit. It's, well, art.

Let me give you an example. The image of the giant joystick is from a work by Mary Flanagan. A "work," mind you. Here's part of Christiane Paul's text describing the work, as it were:

"Inviting users to play classic arcade games by collaboratively moving on and controlling a 9-foothigh joystick (modelled after the 1980 Atari 2600 one), Mary Flanagan highlights the spatial and social role of the interface. The joystick itself becomes a social sculpture and territory for inter-personal communication. Mary Flanagan’s work has consistently focused on the exploration of the cultural and sociological effects of technology, in particular, the merging of the private and public sphere in commonly used technological tools and products – from interfaces to games. The tension between private and public is an underlying narrative of her projects [collection] and [domestic], a game engine modification that transforms the scripted, shared narrative of the public game environment into a narrative space inscribed with personal memories. [giantJoystick] takes the investigation of everyday technological tools to the next level by subverting a common interface and highlighting its function in both a social (public/ private) and physical/ spatial context."

OK. OK. It's a different perspective on fun, I'll grant you that. Focusing on significance and nuance and socio-cultural stuff. Nevertheless, you have to admit, playing a game with a 9-foot joystick sounds like fun, regardless of what it portends or pretends. And for me, that's the point, that's what makes this kind of exhibit something worth paying close attention to, maybe even getting excited about: follow fun deep enough, you find art.


funscsouting by Pat Kane