An 8-bit Moment in Gameplay: [giantJoystick]
On February 4, the UCSD division of the California Institute for
Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) will launch the 2008
program of its new Gallery at Calit2, an art-meets-technology space on the
first floor of Atkinson Hall on the La Jolla campus. The art showcase
reflects the nexus of innovation implicit in Calit2's vision, and advances
the understanding and appreciation of the dynamic interplay among art,
science and technology.
The first exhibit in the space, "An 8-bit Moment in Gameplay:
giantJoystick]" will run through March 17. The play sculpture is a working,
large-scale game interface designed for collaborative play, by artist and
media theorist Mary Flanagan.
Exhibition runs from February 4 to March 17, 2008
Reception on February 14, 6 to 8 PM
Gallery open Monday through Thursday, 11 AM to 5 PM
Free Admission
Video games have been around for over forty years, and have redefined our
reality with classics such as "Pac-Man", "Asteroids", "Centipede" and
"Missile Command". As video game consoles, which offered low-resolution
graphics known as 8-bit, were introduced in the 1970s. But it wasn't until
the early 1980s that they became wildly popular, moving 8-bit graphics from
the arcade into the home with the Atari 2600 game console.
That console featured a distinctive joystick, and Flanagan takes visitors
back to the seminal period by turning the Atari joystick into a super-sized
work of art that she considers a form of social sculpture.
Flanagan investigates everyday technologies through critical writing,
artwork, and activist design projects. "Mary Flanagan makes art and popular
culture become one, following in the tradition of pop art," said Ricardo
Dominguez, a visual arts professor and member of the Gallery at Calit2
programming committee. "She also explores the aesthetics of gameplay, which
today has extended beyond video games to influence media and culture at
large."
An interview with the artist about [giantJoystick] can be viewed online at
http://ima.hunter.cuny.edu/~bonvicinia/stick1.mov
<http://ima.hunter.cuny.edu/~bonvicinia/stick1.mov> [Quicktime only].
Calit2 is a partnership between UC San Diego and UC Irvine, and houses
over 1,000 researchers organized around more than 50 projects on the future
of telecommunications and information technology and how these technologies
will transform a range of applications important to the economy and
citizens' quality of life. The institute has integrated new media arts into
its cross-disciplinary agenda.
Artist Bio:
Mary Flanagan investigates everyday technologies through critical writing,
artwork, and activist design projects. Flanagan's work has been exhibited
internationally at museums, festivals, and galleries, including: the
Guggenheim, The Whitney Museum of American Art, SIGGRAPH, The Banff Centre,
Central Fine Arts Gallery NY, Artists Space NY, the University of Arizona,
University of Colorado-Boulder, as well as venues in Brazil, France, UK,
Canada, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Australia. Her projects have been funded by
the National Science Foundation, the Pacific Cultural Foundation, and the
National Endowment for the Arts.
Mary Flanagan holds MFA and MA degrees from the University of Iowa, a BA in
Film from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Ph.D. in
Computational Media focusing on activist game design from Central Saint
Martins College of Art and Design, UK. She teaches in the Integrated Media
Arts MFA program in the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter
College, NYC. Her research group and laboratory in New York is called
TiltFactor, a lab focused on the design of activists and socially-conscious
software. http://www.tiltfactor.org <http://www.tiltfactor.org/>
Gallery at Calit2
Atkinson Hall
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
http://gallery.calit2.net <http://gallery.calit2.net/>
For more information about the Gallery at Calit2 and the [giantJoystick]
exhibit, contact Gallery Coordinator Eduardo Navas at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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