the presence of absence: observing the political in play
DESCRIPTION
Can any medium exist outside of the political? Looking at media theory, cognitive theory, philosophy and personal stories to understand games and some of their community problems.TRANSCRIPT
THE PRESENCEOF ABSENCEObserving the Political in Play Mohini Dutta
@freyadutta
MOHINI DUTTA@freyadutta
MOHINI DUTTA@freyadutta
GAMES
@freyadutta
IT WAS ALL SO NEW TO ME.GAMES COULD DO POTENTIALLYANYTHING. IT WAS INTOXICATING.
GAMES
image/ M.C. Escher: Metamorphose
GAMES PROVIDE
A TERRAIN FROM
WHICH MEANING
CAN EMERGE
@freyadutta GAMES
image/Archigram: Walking Cities
NOT THE NOSTALGIA
I FELT THE LOVE
@freyadutta GAMES
A DARK MORALITY
TALE ABOUT PIECES THAT
DIDN’T FIT IN, AND SO
DESTROYED SOCIETY AS
WE KNOW IT
TETRIS@freyadutta GAMES
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES FOUND ME AT
WHEREANYTHING GOES
@freyadutta GAMES
SYSTEMS DESIGN OPTIMISES THE CHANCES OF MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN PLAYERS & THE SYSTEMS THEY INHABIT
@freyadutta GAMES
image/Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich.
image/Bottleneck @ CoAP@helloAntidote
@helloAntidote image/Sandwich Shop @ the UN
WE PUSH BOUNDARIES WHEN WE PLAY
@freyadutta GAMES
WE PUSH BOUNDARIES WHEN WE PLAY...HOW IS THAT NOT A POLITICAL ACT?
@freyadutta GAMES
IS PLAY POLITICAL?
@freyadutta GAMES
PLAY DISRUPTS THE WAY WE INTERACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE
image/May Day's Grecian Dance [Postcard 1917]
@freyadutta GAMES
PLAY RE APPROPRIATES
SPACE
@freyadutta GAMES
image/ Painted video game cabinet by Nick Kuszyk @ Babycastles | 3D PacMan
PLAY RE APPROPRIATES
SPACE
@freyadutta GAMES
image/ Painted video game cabinet by Nick Kuszyk @ Babycastles | 3D PacMan
DIGITAL PLAY: CREATING SPACES BY PLACING PARAMETERS TO DEFINE IT
ANALOG PLAY: CHANGING THE RULES AND
BOUNDARIES OF EXISTING SPACES TO ALLOW FOR NEW
INTERACTIONS
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES CREATE A VIRTUALITY INSPIRED BY A “REAL” BUT DO SO BY BREAKING DOWN & RE-MAKING THE VALUE SYSTEMS OF THE “REAL”
@freyadutta GAMES
A COPY THAT IS MORE REAL
THAN THAT WHICH IT COPIES
SIMULACRA
HYPERREAL
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES CREATE A VIRTUALITY INSPIRED BY A “REAL” BUT DO SO BY BREAKING DOWN & RE-MAKING THE VALUE SYSTEMS OF THE “REAL”
MORE “REAL” THAN THE “REAL”, ARE GAMES HYPERREAL OBJECTS?
image/ Jean Baudrillard | WoW Funeral Raid
@freyadutta GAMESSIMULACRA OBJECTS NOT BASED IN
A REALITY OR HIDING IT, INSTEAD CONCEALING
THE IRRELEVANCE OF REALITY TO OUR LIVES
SIMULACRA
image/ Gilles Deleuze | Triad & Lesbian Spider Queens of Mars by Anna Anthropy
@freyadutta GAMES
A NEW SPACE WHERE THE ACCEPTED IDEAL CAN BE CHALLENGED & OVERTURNED
@freyadutta GAMES
BAUDRILLARD SEES ENTROPY IN THE SIMULACRA
@freyadutta GAMES
BAUDRILLARD SEES ENTROPY IN THE SIMULACRA
DELEUZE SEES
POTENTIAL
WHAT ABOUT GAMES THEN?
@freyadutta GAMES
@freyadutta GAMES
THE OUTSIDE IS NOT A SPACE ONE CAN OCCUPY TO BE OUTSIDE SOMETHING IS TO OCCUPY SOMETHING ELSE FROM WITHIN
image/ Elizabeth Grosz
GAMES MIGHT EXIST OUTSIDE OF A POPULAR POLITICAL SPECTRUM
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES MIGHT EXIST OUTSIDE OF A POPULAR POLITICAL SPECTRUMTHEY MIGHT EVEN HAVE A POLITICS THAT IS NOT ESTABLISHED YET
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES MIGHT EXIST OUTSIDE OF A POPULAR POLITICAL SPECTRUMTHEY MIGHT EVEN HAVE A POLITICS THAT IS NOT ESTABLISHED YET
BUT THEY CANNOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF POLITICS
@freyadutta GAMES
@freyadutta GAMES
image+ quote / Elizabeth Grosz | Illustration by Tom Leytham
“BODIES ARE ABSENT IN ARCHITECTURE, BUT THEY REMAIN ARCHITECTURE'S UNSPOKEN CONDITION”
THE ABSENCE OF SOMETHING IS ANOTHER FORM OF PRESENCE
@freyadutta GAMES
@freyadutta GAMES
THE ABSENCE OF THE POLITICAL IN POPULAR GAMES CULTURE REVEALS THE PRESENCE OF A DEEPLY CHARGED POLITICS
@freyadutta GAMES
image + quote / Jean Baudrillard
“THE GENERATION OF MODELS OF A REAL WITHOUT ORIGIN OR REALITY”
GAMES CREATE A WORLD WHERE REALITY IS REPRESENTED AS AN UNREALISTICALLY PERFECT IDEAL
@freyadutta GAMES
DO OUR CHOICES IN GAMES MATTER?WE ARE TOLD THEY DO...
SUPER-HONED FEEDBACK LOOPS
REASSURE US WHEN IN DOUBT.
@freyadutta GAMES
OVERSTIMULATION IS A REPLACEMENT FOR EMPATHY
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES DO NOT NEED TO PARSE KNOWLEDGE, BUT MUST PERPETUALLY ADD DATA TO THE SYSTEM TO EXIST
image / Twine tech tree
@freyadutta GAMES
THE COMMUNITY AROUND A COMMODITY IS ALWAYS A CAPITALISTIC ENTITY
image + quote / Jean Baudrillard
WHAT POLITICS CARRY FORWARD
INTO A COMMUNITY BORN OUT OF & SUSTAINED BY A
COMMODIFIED ENVIRONMENT?
@freyadutta GAMES
image / GTA V release queues in Walsall
@freyadutta GAMES
THE FORM OF GAMES IMPACTS THE NATURE OF GAMES [AND THEIR INHABITANTS]
@freyadutta GAMES
AS LONG AS GAMES ARE LIMITED TO A SINGULARITY OF FORM, THE COMMUNITIES AROUND IT WILL REMAIN STATIC
@freyadutta GAMES
DECLARING UNIQUENESS IS NOT THE SAME AS BEING UNIQUE
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES ARE NOT UNIQUE, AND NEITHER ARE THEIR PROBLEMS
@freyadutta GAMES
THE TRUTH OF GAMES IS LIMITED TO WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN
@freyadutta GAMES“The “possible” is an already performed version of the real while the “virtual” promises something different to the actual it produces; and always contains in it, the potential for something other than the actual.”
image + quote / Elizabeth Grosz
@freyadutta GAMES
GAMES CAN BE SO MUCH MORE ...ONLY IF WE DEMAND MORE
IT IS INTOXICATING.
@freyadutta GAMESWILL THE POTENTIAL OF GAMES SURVIVE THEIR CRUTCH OF STATICITY?
OR WILL ENTROPY CONSUME OUR MEDIUM TOO?
MOHINI DUTTA
@helloAntidote
@freyadutta