[spectre] game off / on -empyre-

[Melinda Rackham]

Game off
 March on -empyre-

 "Video games are the first stage in a plan for machines to
help the
 human race, the only plan that offers a future for
intelligence. For
 the moment, the insufferable philosophy of our time is
contained in
 the Pac-Man. I didn't know, when I was sacrificing all my
coins to
 him, that he was going to conquer the world. Perhaps
because he is the
 most graphic metaphor of Man's Fate. He puts into true
perspective the
 balance of power between the individual and the
environment, and he
 tells us soberly that though there may be honor in carrying
out the
 greatest number of victorious attacks, it always comes a
cropper." -
 Chris Marker, 'Sunless'

 Truncated, repetitive, coin-operated nihilism. To a point.
The
 'insufferable philosophy of our time' is not a single
object or
 symbol, but the array of signs and symbols placed at odds
with each
 other, made to wage a type of war we aren't told how to
engage with.
 We were told that play would desensitise, depoliticise and
disconnect
 us, and now games are presented by the museum as the latest
historical
 and contemporary cultural artefacts.

 This month on -empyre- brings us the Game. Whether we play
or not,
 whether we live in the moneyed west or not, games occur.
Using the
 rubric of 'game off', our stellar guests will tease out and
map
 intertwined threads of play culture, game art, game theory
–
 interrogating the frictions and fissions of experiential
pleasure,
 avatar uprisings, the game engine medium, collection and
archiving,
 futility and joy.

 Join Marguerite Charmante,  Daphne Dragona, Margarete
Jahrmann, Max
 Moswitzer, Julian Oliver, Melanie Swalwell, David Surman
(and maybe
 Helen Stuckey) in multi-streamed dialogues moderated by
Christian
 McCrea and Melinda Rackham.

 http:/http://www.subtle.net/empyre
 ________________________

 Marguerite Charmante is a tagged game figure. She reflects
ludically
 on futility as resistance, toys and game fashion. 2005 she
and
 MosMaxHax co-founded the international association LUDIC
SOCIETY to
 provoke a new discipline on play and cultures. The
affiliations
 club-magazine appears regularly in print.
 http://www.ludic-society.net

 Daphne Dragona is a new media arts curator and organiser
based in
 Athens. Recently she has been focusing on game arts and
currently she
 is a co – curator of  Homo Ludens Ludens, an exhibition
opening in
 April 08 in Laboral Centro de Arte y Industrial, Gjion
Spain.

 Margarete Jahrmann is professor at the Game Design
Department of the
 University of Arts and Design Zurich and a Ph.D. student of
Caiia,
 School of Computer Sciences and Communications, University
of
 Plymouth. 2003 Jahrmann/Moswitzer received an award of
distinction at
 Prix Ars Electronica and in 2004 at transmediale Berlin.
 http://www.ludic.priv.at/

 Christian McCrea is a writer and theorist from Melbourne,
Australia.
 His work describes the non-virtual aspects of games under
the rubric
 of materialism, namely nostalgia, euphoria, the proscenium
of gaming
 actions and explosive body aesthetics. He works as Lecturer
in Games
 and Interactivity at Swinburne University of Technology.
 http://www.wolvesevolve.com

 Max Moswitzer specializes in 3D simulations and artistic
server
 design, Dozent at the Game Design Department of the
University of Arts
 and Design Zurich and the University for Applied Arts in
Vienna.
 Moswitzer co-founded Konsum.net in 1995 and regularly
produces
 interactive applications, online installations, videos and
telematic
 performances
 http://max.sil.at/

 Julian Oliver is a New Zealand born artist, free-software
developer,
 teacher and writer based in Madrid, Spain. Julian has given
numerous
 workshops, exhibitions and papers worldwide. In 1998 he
established
 the artistic game-development collective, Select Parks.
 http://julianoliver.com

 Melinda Rackham is Director of ANAT, Australia's leading
cultural
 organisation generating new creativities which bridge
science,
 research, art, industry and culture. She dabbled
extensively in
 multi-user online environments and has an abiding interest
in
 playfulness.
 http://www.subtle.net

 Melanie Swalwell is currently developing a suite of
projects on the
 history of digital games in New Zealand, with essays
published in the
 Journal of Visual Culture and Vectors, and forthcoming in
Ludologica
 Retro and Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader.
 http://melanieswalwell.backpackit.com/pub/1284142

 David Surman is Senior Lecturer in Computer Games Design at
the
 Newport School of Art, Media and Design in the green hills
of Wales.
 He blogs about technology, sexuality, gaming and popular
culture at
 http://www.gaygamer.net.