26 - 28 july
In the last years a growing theoretical discussion of the phenomenon computer game is to be noticed. Since the release of the first games thirty years ago the computer game has developed into a cultural manifestation that becomes more and more important and has a decisive influence on our view of interaction, digital aesthetic and online-environments. Games are clear catalysts for technology and industry. They furthermore reflect and influence social and cultural developments.
Where does the fascination for mobile and digital games come from? Is it pure enthusiasm for technique or the possibility to write one’s own games with their own rules? Are computer games communicative? Interactive? Network building? Reality stimulating?
Is game art or can you make art with games? The task of art is to guarantee a place for anti concepts and alternative models. Strategies of art can be transferred into other, non-artistic areas and be effective there. The question of game development plays an important role. Although phenomena of the game industry like Lara Croft and Final Fantasy haunt the media, they convey only marginally the artistic potential of computer games or network games.
Plug and play. Games are learnable and so is technique. With the growing possibilities of digital media the knowledge about rules and codes plays a more and more important role. Therefore the consideration of new media, playing in the net and network games, mobile playing and mobile thinking will be an essential focus. What happens when the power is turned on?
garage 02 is searching for artists’ concepts and positions on the discussion of the principles and mechanisms of games. Play with conventions, techniques of play, game as a model for solving concrete problems, game as a manipulation of perception, game a critical reflection, game as game. Trespassing borders and networked playing. Mobile playing and mobile thinking.