Griff says; Jeux Sans Frontières

Regular readers will by now have cottoned on to the fact that I occasionally like to write about gaming. I must admit I'm not really much of a gamer myself but I do find the interface between the gaming and art worlds particularly fascinating. Gaming, after all, is a very new art form, and is one which is often characterised as trivial or juvenile. The obvious parallels can be drawn with the establishment reaction to the new-fangled fad of pop music in the 1950s or the early 20th century theatre owners dismissal of early film as a mere gimmick. For this reason, we are in an especially privileged position in that we belong to a generation, or generations, who can watch first-hand as gaming develops a remit which extends beyond entertainment into something more profound. And it will do that. Indeed, it already is doing that as my previous blogs on gaming (see 'here') have sought to make clear.

So, tonight, I wanted to introduce you to the wonderful world of Pippin Barr - author, blogger, artist, lecturer, thesis supervisor and game designer. Dr. Pippin Barr previously taught the experimental interaction and programming for game designers courses at IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark and his Ph.D. was about video game values, while his M.Sc. was about user-interface metaphors. This background is obvious in his games designing, which he began at the start of 2011,as he continually pushes at the boundaries of game-play. In particular, stretching the limits of simple narratives by the inherent mechanics contained within the game-play choices. If none of that last sentence makes any sense then I direct you to my previous blog on the experimental, minimalistic 'notgames' of Jordan Magnuson 'here'. Pippin Barr's short flashgames are reminiscent of Magnuson's work but with an added element of subversive black humour.

I first came across Barr due to his most famous creation, the game 'The Artist Is Present'. Astute Streetlamp readers, who tend to be familiar with the world of avant-garde art, will recognise the title as belonging to the monumental performance piece delivered by the divine Marina Abramovic at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010. If you have no idea who Marina Abramovic is or why this particular piece of performance art is so famous and well-loved have a look at this very good documentary 'here'. Anyway, Barr has taken the full 'The Artist Is Present' experience, including the interminable queuing and the multiple dashed hopes of finally being able to sit opposite Marina (yes, the Streetlamp team have been thoroughly seduced by the sublime Serbian ) and turned it into an 8-bit game experience. Does that make sense? Perhaps not, maybe its best to tell you that you can play the game 'here'. I loved it, but then I love Marina (sigh) so perhaps I'm biased.

Barr has many more extremely interesting games on his site. For my money, the best of these are the slyly satirical 'War Game', which takes an early arcade-style shooting game and turns it into a commentary on war and the military mind-set worthy of Catch-22. 'You Say Jump I Say How High' is another totally addictive game, particularly if, like me, you are a bit of a physics geek. You see, this game allows you, in fact requires you, to adjust the physical parameters of the world in which your little ghost character collects coins and moves through the levels. Imagine Super Mario as imagined by David Bohm.
Barr's game play ideas are continually surprising and inventive. Check out his conversion of the famous philosophical thought experiment The Trolley Problem into a game. Play for yourself and marvel at how fun philosophy can be (and how empty of any value utilitarianism is).
Then there are Barr's thirty-six separate versions of the grand-daddy of arcade video games Pong. Barr's versions include Blind Pong, Epilepsy Pong, Schizo Pong and Shrink Pong amongst others. You will be literally amazed at the sheer breadth of invention Barr can bring to such an ostensibly unsophisticated set-up.


I'll finish up by pointing out that Barr is also a visual artist and that the illustrations used throughout this piece are all his own work. More of this can be seen at his website.

Griff
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Griff says; The Loneliness of the Long Distance Gamer

We take another of our occasional forays into the world of gaming tonight. This being the Streetlamp you needn't expect a review of the latest hyper-violent, first-person shooter, of course, but a glimpse at the artistic margins of the gaming world. Those of you who've read our previous pieces on existentialist, 8-bit heroes Ledo and Ix or the bleak, Russian, street-child art-game Ulitsa Dimitrova will know what to expect. Like Ulitsa Dimitrova, the game I'm writing about tonight, Jordan Magnuson's Loneliness, is not so much a game as a piece of art that utilises gaming principles and conventions to make its point. But in doing so, it also expands the mechanics of gaming in a very interesting way, as you will discover.

Let me set the scene. A couple of years ago, Jordan Magnuson set out to travel the world and came up with the concept of 'game trekking'. His idea was to use short flash-games, which he developed on his travels, to try and convey thoughts, ideas and feelings about the things he was learning and experiencing on his journey — computer games as a form of reflective travel-writing, if you will. Magnuson, however, is not your average flash-game creator looking to give you something meaningless to while away long bus journeys. If you play any of the games he's made so far you’ll soon realise that his emphasis is on experimenting with the medium, and on the exploration of place and how it relates to us as humans, over and against 'fun' or gameplay as such (which is why he prefers the label 'notgames' for his creations).

The 'notgame' Loneliness is an experimental, minimalistic microgame about loneliness, made for the Korean middle school students Magnuson taught for a year. Loneliness tells the simple story, through a series of black blocks on a white background, of one person who is shunned by everyone around them.

The interesting feature of this 'notgame' lies in its inherent mechanics. The narrative of the game is simple, and seems at first confining, but its beauty lies in the fact that the very mechanics of the game allow the player to explore a wide, possibly limitless, range of choices. The game narrative features no words or instructions and by dint of being undefined is different for every player. As you play you realise that the narrative is determined by HOW the player plays the game. Thus, each response to the game is its own distinct narrative. The conscious choices you make while playing are an example of how you respond to Loneliness. By having the meaning embedded in the mechanics this allows the player to make analogue rather than binary choices. It allows us to make a combination of choices. The combined choices of each player is possibly unique. In playing Loneliness you set your own goal and craft you own story. In a world of trivial, time-wasting, insignificant, and juvenile game-play this act of creative interaction is almost subversive.

To see what I'm on about you can try playing Loneliness 'here' at NecessaryGames.com, a site founded by Magnuson in 2009 explicitly focused on exploring meaning and significance with games. Magnuson has many other interesting 'notgames' available and every game he makes for the game trekking project is 100% free, open source, and cross-platform. You can view his portfolio at necessary games 'here'. You can visit his game trekking site 'here'.

Griff
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Griff says: A Russia and a push and the land is ours

I don't think that anyone can have failed to notice events in Russia this week. An estimated 50,000 people have gathered in Moscow, with a further 10,000 in St Petersburg (pictured), to protest against what appears to be widespread fraud in last Sunday's elections. The authorities have responded in typical fashion and the media reports that there have been more than 1,000 arrests. Undaunted by this, the protestors have pledged to take to the streets again on December 24 and continue to insist that the election results should be annulled. They also want; the resignation of the head of the election commission, an official investigation into vote fraud, democratic and open elections and registration of opposition parties. The Streetlamp salutes them and wishes them success!



Thus, while our eyes are turned to the East in hope and admiration, now seems a good time to bring a couple of Russian cultural artefacts to your attention.

The first sees the Streetlamp take another of its very occasional forays into the interface between the worlds of gaming and art (see 'here' for previous) in the shape of stark, homeless-themed game Ulitsa Dimitrova.
Designed by German game designer Lea Schonfelder, Ulitsa Dimitrova is really more of a political, arts-project than a game. The central character, whom the player controls, is Pjotr - a chain-smoking street-child in St. Petersburg. Pjotr steals glue and trades it to his glue-sniffing friend for cigarettes. His mother is a prostitute, who in exchange for stolen vodka gives him money, which he also uses to buy cigarettes. The player soon finds himself trapped in a world of ever-dimishing returns; he can beg for money, steal, vandalize Mercedes cars and trade their emblems (for cigarettes, naturally) but any sense of achievement or hope is soon inexorably reduced to zero.


You see, Ulitsa Dimitrova has been deliberately designed to ensure that progress isn't an option. Pjotr is condemned to endlessly repeat the daily soul-sapping grind or to lie down in the street and be gradually covered by the falling snow. Thus, if the player stops playing, Pjotr will freeze to death. As harsh as that sounds, it is, unfortunately, real life for millions of street children. When you play this beautifully illustrated game you are placed, for just a very short time, into Pjotr's shoes, and the experiences you have, and the emotions you experience through him, will live with you for considerably longer. Do then, please, go ahead and experience this paradoxically simple and sophisticated game for yourself, as this is gaming constructed to be both art and social commentary. The game can be downloaded for free 'here'.

If you need further convincing, then have a look at this short youtube presentation:






Rather serendipitously, I've also recently come across an indie-pop band from St. Petersburg, Russia who seem to have the theme of childhood running through their work. Called ЧАЙЛДИШ (Childish) the line-up is as follows:

Andy Rozberg: voice, guitar, harmonica
Alexei Belyaev: bass guitar, double bass
Nikolai Novikov: guitar
Andrew Heller: drums, glockenspiel


They've just released their first recording, in the shape of a gentle and wistful five-song EP (also called ЧАЙЛДИШ), which can be freely downloaded from their bandcamp page. They say (if my translation is correct) that the songs are:

"for those who still believe in those things we were taught in the books that we read in childhood, and who like the music that we listened to in our youth. These are the delicate hymns to our fears and dreams. This is our quiet manifesto."

I'm embedding the first track, Свидетели (Witnesses), below for your listening pleasure.





Enjoy,

Griff
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Griff says; All aboard the 8-bit data bus

Now, I'm hoping you'll indulge me tonight as, first of all, I want to talk a bit about non-musical art of a most unusual nature. Stick with me though and you'll be pleasantly surprised (and there's some good free music at the end).
My good friend, The Big Chap, is something of a video-gamer and it was he who first introduced the concept of video games as an art-form to me. Initially, I was sceptical, not being fully immersed in that culture I hadn't realised just how much the boundaries had been pushed over the last few years. However, by careful exposure, on his part, to some beautifully crafted and philosphically-rich games I slowly began to realise that video games had developed from the simple 'shooting at badly-rendered alien craft' view that I had formed into something altogether more intellectually satisfying. The clincher, however, probably came a couple of years ago when he and I attended a concert of the entire Royal Scottish National Orchestra providing live on-stage accompaniment to screened video games at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. I've never mentioned this on the blog before, but I'm a huge fan of live orchestras and this particular night was excellent, musically and visually. Shortly after this The Culture Show ran a piece on video games as 'art' and I was able to nod along sagely, claiming that; "Yeah, I've always said that."

Anyway, tonight's artist was a recommendation from The Big Chap and I liked it so much I wanted to share it on The Streetlamp. The artist is Emily Carmichael from New York, USA. A graduate of Harvard University, Emily earned her B.A. with honours in Painting and Literature and continues to distinguish herself as an artist, playwright, and theatre director. In 2006, she entered the MFA film program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and in the past two years has written and directed five narrative short films and an animated short in addition to two short documentaries. In 2008, she founded Kid Can Drive, an independent company committed to the production of creative content across media platforms. It is one of the Kid Can Drive projects that I want to bring to your attention tonight, namely, The Adventures of Ledo and Ix.

The Adventures of Ledo and Ix is a series of animated short films that uses the visual vocabulary of retro video games to explore the human fear of both the unknown and the known. The genius of the concept is that Ledo and Ix are 8-bit fantasy adventurers in the style of the early NES-type video games familiar to so many. However, Ledo and Ix display sentience and a measure of free-will, unlike the automaton-like behaviour of the stock characters they encounter, and after each episodic adventure they muse, wonder, dream and despair. Here's the trailer, for a taste of what to expect:



The Kid Can Drive website describes The Adventures of Ledo and Ix as "a sort of eight-bit tribute to Waiting for Godot", and that, whilst undoubtedly a bold claim to make, is a perfect description. The 8 episodes so far released can all be seen on Penny Arcade TV and I strongly urge you to check it out. I guarantee that you will find yourself thrown into a state of empathy with, and worry for the future of, Ix; who with his winning combination of innocence and growing unease is all humanity reduced to an 8-bit figure. This is a truly wonderful piece of art, please do have a look and let me know what you think.

Now, for some nicely themed music (and some more visual art, now that I've got you in the mood). Firstly, Raquel Meyers is a Spanish video artist, often using low-res graphics to create surreal imagery and eerie atmospheres. She has made video clips and VJ sets for many of the more prominent 8-bit musicians (Glomag, Bubblyfish, Goto80) and also worked with indie, electro and noise acts. Meyers has also worked with print design, installations, and websites. She is perhaps one of the more consistent pixel artists, although she is currently exploring other expressions to create confusion and delight. Check out her website 'here' for more madness. Tonight, I'd like to feature one of her amazing 8-bit videos. This is Dos Policías by Spanish indie-poppers Los Punsetes:



Excellent!You'll be pleased to learn that Los Punsetes have several free MP3s available for download on their last.fm page.

Next up is a video by twee, and sweet as candy-floss, Japanese chiptune exponents YMCK. This is J-pop done using the sound chip technology of early computer and video consoles. I find it rather charming. This is their version of La La is Love, a song originally by Thai experimental-pop musician June Somsiri Sangkaew, recording as Bear-Garden:



If you liked that, you can find download links to the entire YMCK back catalogue 'here'.

Finally, director Aaron Novak took the Dealership song, Forest, which the band contrived as a paean to the Nintendo game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and has crafted for it a video of 8-bit inspired fun. The video is a loving homage to early Nintendo game design. It even uses the screen resolution and colour palette of the old NES system. Have a look, and listen, below:



Great song, too. The MP3 of Forest can be freely downloaded on the Dealership website.


Hope that was fun (and thought-provoking too)!

Griff
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