RHIZOME DIGEST: 01.05.04

discussion

Posted Jan. 4 2004 19:00

RHIZOME DIGEST: 01.05.04

RHIZOME DIGEST: January 5, 2004 Content: +announcement+ 1. Andrea Blum: Leonardo/ISAST involved in ISEA 2006 in San Jose, CA 2. Christina McPhee: January on -empyre-: Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters 3. Yagos Koliopanos: VCMNET launch presentation +opportunity+ 4. Iris Mayr: Prix Ars Electronica starts with a new category 5. Hyun-Yeul Lee: Call for Exhibition Proposals - DIS 2004 Boston 6. J E Lewis Lewis: Tenure Track Position in Digital Media +feature+ 7. McKenzie Wark: Designer Playtime + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + **RHIZOME NEEDS TO RAISE $27K BY FEBRUARY 1, 2004** Do you value Rhizome Digest? If so, consider making a contribution and helping Rhizome.org to be self-sustaining. A contribution of $15 will qualify you for a 10-20% discount in items in the New Museum of Contemporary Art's Store, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.newmuseum.org/comersus/store/comersus_dynamicIndex.asp">http://www.newmuseum.org/comersus/store/comersus_dynamicIndex.asp</a> and a donation of $50 will get you a funky Rhizome t-shirt designed by artist Cary Peppermint. Send a check or money order to Rhizome.org, New Museum, 583 Broadway, New York, NY, 10012 or give securely and quickly online: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.rhizome.org/support/?digest0105">http://www.rhizome.org/support/?digest0105</a> **BE AN ACTIVE ROOT** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 1. Date: 12.24.03 From: Andrea Blum (isast@well.com) Subject: Leonardo/ISAST involved in ISEA 2006 in San Jose, CA To: Leonardo Network From: Roger Malina, Chair, Leonardo/ISAST Re: Leonardo/ISAST collaboration with ISEA 2006 San Jose, California, USA We are pleased to inform the Leonardo network of our involvement in the ISEA 2006 conference. As explained in the attached press release, the city of San Jose has been selected by ISEA to host the 2006 conference. Steve Dietz will serve as the Symposium Director. Leonardo/ISAST, under the leadership of ISAST Advisory Board chair Beverly Reiser, will collaborate with the 2006 ISEA Symposium in a number of areas including: a) Facilitating of the Pacific Rim New Media Centers summit in connection with the Leonardo Global Crossings (Cultural Roots of Globalization) project. b) Publications dedicated to documenting the work of emerging artists and of new media programs internationally. The publications will be produced as part of the Leonardo Experimental Publishing Project under the direction of Pamela Grant Ryan. Leonardo/ISAST welcomes involvement and suggestions from the members of the Leonardo network. Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology (ISAST) serves the international arts community by promoting and documenting work at the intersection of the arts, sciences, and technology, and by encouraging and stimulating collaboration between artists, scientists, and technologists. For further information, go to (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.leonardo.info/">http://www.leonardo.info/</a>). + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 2. Date: 1.02.04 From: Christina McPhee (christina112@earthlink.net) Subject: January on -empyre- : Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters January on -empyre- : Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters With Jill Scott, Nick Montfort and Noah Wardrip-Fruin Is new media a field? Does it have a history? What history? And, how does it matter? The new year brings us the pleasure of hosting three lively minds from the interdisciplinary worlds of new media science, art and humanities. Noah Wardrip-Fruin (US) and Nick Montfort (US) will explore the genesis and critical issues that have lead to the publication of The New Media Reader (MIT Press 2003), a compendium of intertextually annotated readings from the last century. To the double helix of art and computation in new media, Nick and Noah hope to interweave empyrean comments in the coming month. With Noah and Nick, we are honored to share time and thoughts with a distinguished new media artist, Jill Scott, whose new book, "Coded Characters" (Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2003), explores the mediation and role of the audience, as well as the mythical representation of the human body on both stage and screen, are constantly questioned. Jill's nomadic hegira, from the Bay Area to Australia and to Europe, bears witness to a consistent development of new media art as a series of cyberphysical metaphors–analog figures, digital beings, and mediated nomads. Please join Jill, Nick and Noah this coming month on -empyre- soft-skinned space. Subscribe at: (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.subtle.net/empyre">http://www.subtle.net/empyre</a>) ………………………………….. Nick Montfort writes on interactive fiction, the literary uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning, game studies, and analogies between new media, narrative and poetry. At the University of Pennsylvania, where he is a PhD candidate in computer science, Nick researches computational aspects of behavioral game theory. Recent publications include "Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction" (MIT Press, 2003), regarding such "text adventures" as Adventure and Zork from literary and computational perspectives. (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://nickm.com">http://nickm.com</a>) (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://newmediareader.com">http://newmediareader.com</a>) ———————————————– Jill Scott and her oeuvre have contributed to a new concept of the human body with respect to its functionality as an interface and as a player in the rapidly developing technological spaces and in physical reality. Since 1975, her work has evolved from making surveillance-performance events, to video art, and onto new computer art and interactive cinema. (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.jillscott.org">http://www.jillscott.org</a>) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Noah Wardrip-Fruin is a new media scholar and artist. He has recently edited two books, both from MIT Press - The New Media Reader (with Nick Montfort, 2003) and First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (with Pat Harrigan, forthcoming). As an artist his work focuses on new media text, including The Impermanence Agent (a storytelling web agent that "customizes" based on reader browsing habits) and Screen (an immersive VR text that interacts with the reader's body). His work has been presented by the Whitney and Guggenheim museums, as well as discussed in reference books such as Information Arts (MIT Press) and Digital Art (Thames and Hudson). (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://hyperfiction.org/">http://hyperfiction.org/</a>) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 3. Date: 1.02.04 From: Yagos Koliopanos (yagos_koliopanos@hotmail.com) Subject: VCMNET launch presentation VIRTUAL CENTER MEDIA NET 10 - 13 January 2004 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.virtualcentre-media.net">http://www.virtualcentre-media.net</a> With the occasion of launching Virtual Centre Media Net on the Internet, Fournos_Centre for Digital Culture (Athens, Greece) presents in its premises from the 10th to the 13th of January an ongoing event on the relationship between real and virtual space, including presentations, talks and other happenings. Virtual Centre Media Net is a new platform for art and digital culture, which is co-founded by 10 European art and technology centers and is supported by the European programme Culture 2000. The aim of the centre is to create a common space for the co-production and the promotion of contemporary art forms, for the development of new artistic projects based on the collaboration of artists and theoreticians, for the information and education of artists and professionals from the new media art field. www.virtualcentre-media.net includes the following activities: a permanent collection consisted mainly of works that the artists produce especially for the centre, temporary exhibitions and alternative artistic activities, collaborative art projects in progress, workshops and seminars, an online magazine, research, a dynamic database for youth resources, for postgraduate studies, exchange opportunities, job vacancies, seminars and workshops , focusing on art and new technologies, news and events of activities in the real and virtual space, audiovisual and printed material. The first official presentation of the virtual centre took place in Paris, in La gaite Lyrique centre on 26 September 2003. Virtualcentre-media.net is co-organised by the following centres: Fournos, Centre for Digital Culture (Greece), CICV Pierre Schaeffer (France), European Media Art Festival (Germany), Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (UK), KIBLA (Slovenia), Student Computer Art Society (Bulgaria), D.EP.AS (Greece) with the collaboration of International Center for Contemporary Art (Rumania), V2 (Netherlands), AXIS (Netherlands), &#918;&#927; (Italy). The design and software management is undertaken by Netmode Lab and the National Technical University of Athens. The four-day programme will be as follows: Saturday 10.01.04, 22.00 VJ performance party by Lichtsport (Germany) Sunday 11.01.04, 21.00 "Best of European Video" Screening of European video artworks, chosen in accordance with the activities of the virtual centre. Monday 12.01.04, 20.30 Presentation of Virtual Centre Media Net and its activities by its main contributors from Greece and abroad (artists, curators and centre directors). Talk by Michael Connor, Media Curator from the FACT centre and artist Armin Medosch on the logic of copyleft and net projects Tuesday 13.01.04, 18.00 Gala on the relationship of "Real and Virtual Space" with guest speakers: artists, academics and architects from Greece. Fournos_Centre for Digital Culture Mavromichali 168 Athens, Greece www.fournos-culture.gr + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + For $65 annually, Rhizome members can put their sites on a Linux server, with a whopping 350MB disk storage space, 1GB data transfer per month, catch-all email forwarding, daily web traffic stats, 1 FTP account, and the capability to host your own domain name (or use <a rel="nofollow" href="http://rhizome.net/your_account_name">http://rhizome.net/your_account_name</a>). PLUS, those who sign up for Rhizome hosting before January 15, 2004 will receive a *FREE* domain name for one year. And there is more, the hosted can take comfort in knowing they're being active roots in the rhizome schema, helping the .ORG self-sustain. Details at: <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.broadspire.com/order/rhizome/freedomain.html">https://www.broadspire.com/order/rhizome/freedomain.html</a> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 4. Date: 12.29.03 From: Iris Mayr (iris.mayr@liwest.at) Subject: Prix Ars Electronica starts with a new category Prix Ars Electronica 2004 starts with a new category and an art and technology grant It is the 18th editition of the foremost International Competition for CyberArts. The Prix Ars Electronica will be awarded in the following categories: Computer Animation / Visual Effects Digital Musics Interactive Art Net Vision Digital Communities To mark Ars Electronica's 25th anniversary in 2004, it is being expanded to include a "Digital Communities" domain dedicated to social developments of great current relevance and the art and technology grant [the next idea] art and technology grant. Digital Communities "Digital Communities" encompasses the wide-ranging social consequences of the Internet as well as the latest developments in the domain of mobile communications and wireless networks. "Digital Communities" will spotlight bold and inspired innovations impacting human coexistence, bridging the digital divide regarding gender as well as geography, or creating outstanding social software and enhancing accessibility of technological-social infrastructure. This new category will showcase the political potential of digital and networked systems and is thus designed as a forum for a broad spectrum of projects, programs, initiatives and phenomena in which social innovation is taking place, as itwere, in real time. [the next idea] art and technology grant Discovering ideas for tomorrow in young minds today is the aim of this grant and focusing on the intersection of art and technology. The category?s target group includes students at universities, art schools, technical schools, and other educational institutions as well as creatives from all over the world, aged 19-27, who have developed as-yet-unproduced concepts in the fields of media art, media design or media technology. The winner receives a grant in the amount of 7,500 Euro and will be invited to spend a term as Researcher and Artist in Residence at the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Detailed information about the Prix Ars Electronica 2004 at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://prixars.aec.at">http://prixars.aec.at</a> Online registration starts January 12, 2004 Entry deadline March 12, 2004 Contact: info@prixars.aec.at – German – Der Prix Ars Electronica 2004 erhält eine neuen Kategorie und ein Kunst- und Technologiestipendium Der zum 18. Mal als Internationaler Wettbewerb für Cyberarts ausgeschrieben und wird in folgenden Kategorien verliehen: Computeranimation / Visual Effects Digital Musics Interaktive Kunst Net Vision Digital Communities Zum 25-jährigen Jubiläum der Ars Electronica wird der Prix Ars Electronica 2004 um die Kategorie "Digital Communities" erweitert. Zusätzlich wird der Prix Ars Electronica heuer zum ersten Mal ein Stipendium für innovative Ideen und Konzepte von jungen, kreativen Köpfen von 19 - 27 Jahren vergeben - [the next idea] Kunst- und Technologiestipendium. Digital Communities Angesichts der Fülle und des breiten Spektrums an Projekten im Feld der ?Digital Communities? sowie des unterschiedlichen Backgrounds der ProtagonistInnen werden in dieser neuen Kategorie zwei Goldene Nicas für Projekte mit hoher gesellschaftspolitischer Relevanz verliehen. ?Digital Communities? berücksichtigt die weit reichenden gesellschaftlichen Wirkungen des Internet ebenso wie die aktuellsten Entwicklungen im Bereich der mobilen Kommunikation und drahtlosen Netzwerke. Bei ?Digital Communities? geht es um mutige und inspirierte Innovation im menschlichen Zusammenleben, um die Überbrückung des geografisch, aber auch Gender-bedingten ?Digital Divide? sowie um herausragende soziale Software und die Verbesserung der Zugänglichkeit technologisch-sozialer Infrastrukturen. Die neue Kategorie würdigt das politische Potenzial digitaler und vernetzter Systeme und spricht damit ein breites Spektrum von Projekten, Programmen, Initiativen und Phänomenen an, in denen soziale Innovation gewissermaßen in Echtzeit stattfindet. [the next idea] Kunst- und Technologiestipendium Die Zielsetzung dieses Stipendiums, das von voestalpine unterstützt wird und sich mit der Schnittstelle zwischen Kunst und Technologie auseinandersetzt, ist es, Ideen für morgen in den Gedanken der Jugend von heute freizulegen. Die Zielgruppe dieser Kategorie umfasst Studenten an Universitäten, Kunsthochschulen, Fachhochschulen und anderen Bildungseinrichtungen wie auch Künstler auf der ganzen Welt im Alter zwischen 19 und 27 Jahren, die ein noch nicht realisiertes Konzept in den Bereichen Medienkunst, Mediendesign oder Medientechnologie entwickelt haben. Der Gewinner erhält ein Stipendium in der Höhe von EUR 7.500,? und wird eingeladen, ein Semester als wissenschaftlicher Assistent und Artist-in-Residence am Ars Electronica Futurelab zu absolvieren. Die Bewertung wird von einer Expertenrunde vorgenommen. Detailierte Informationen zum Prix Ars Electronica ab sofort auf <a rel="nofollow" href="http://prixars.aec.at">http://prixars.aec.at</a> Online Einreichung ab 12. Januar 2004. Einreichfrist 12. März 2004 Kontakt: iris mayr: info@prixars.aec.at – Sponsoring and Support: SAP, Telekom Austria and voestalpine are the sponsors of the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica The competition is made possible through the support of the City of Linz, the Province of Upper Austria, ORF Upper Austria, Brucknerhaus Linz, and OK Centrum für Gegenwartskunst. Prix Ars Electronica is supported by: ÖKS Österreichisch Kultur-Service, Pöstlingbegschlöss'l, SONY DADC, Spring and KLM + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 5. Date: 12.30.03 From: Hyun-Yeul Lee (spot@media.mit.edu) Subject: Call for Exhibition Proposals - DIS 2004 Boston Call for Exhibition Proposals - DIS 2004 Boston Exhibition Overview DIS 2004 is keen to further encourage interchange between artists and designers engaged with exploring the boundaries of interactive technologies, through the addition for the first time of an exhibition programme of design and art projects. Accepted submissions will also be eligible for the DIS 2004 Design Awards. If you wish your work to be considered for the design awards please see the Design Awards section of the DIS 2004 website - www.sigchi.org/dis2004 We particularly encourage: -exhibits relating to industrial/commercial design projects -interactive performance and installation based work -site-specific interactive work -work that 'leaks out' into the surrounding environment/community/context, or that encourages the surrounding environment/community/context to 'leak into' the conference -web and screen based work -interactive installations/performances -work that explores new forms of interaction, or exploits emerging interaction technologies -work that blurs boundaries between e.g. interaction design and product design, interaction design and architecture, interaction design and fashion, etc. Submission Process Entry is a two stage process: Pre-proposal round to establish general suitability and technical requirements. Everyone who submits a pre-proposal will be provided with review feedback which will offer guidance for the preparation of the final proposal Proposal round for final selection of exhibits. Pre-proposals The pre-proposal stage allows proposers to gain valuable feedback from the exhibits review committee about their idea before committing to a full proposal. Pre-proposals consist of: - names and contact details of the proposers - a brief (400 word max) outline of the work - a technical summary of the requirements for exhibit - a summary of the interaction experience for the audience and an indication of how much space will be required for the exhibit - a clear statement as to what technical support will be required from the exhibits committee and what technical needs will be met by the proposer - websites may be used to support an application Final proposals Final proposal packages should include the following information and supporting materials. In general they will include the following: - names and contact details of the proposers - a technical summary of the requirements for exhibit - a summary of the interaction experience for the audience and an indication of how much space will be required for the exhibit - a clear statement as to what technical support will be required from the exhibits committee and what technical needs will be met by the proposer - c. 750 word max proposal outlining the aims and objectives of the project, and the form of the exhibit (screen shots, mock-ups etc may be included as appendices) - brief CVs of the proposers including details of previous exhibits (if any) - samples of the work: designs must be submitted via four (4) copies of physical media (CDROM, DVD, PC Format Diskette or NTSC or PAL VHS Videotape) - we accept existing web sites as support material, but if they are not operational at the time of review, the proposal will be rejected. Exhibition co-chairs: Catriona Macaulay (Centre for Interactive Media Design, University of Dundee, UK) and Hyun-Yeul Lee (MIT Media Lab, US) Important Dates Pre-proposal submission deadline: January 20th 2004 Notification of pre-proposal feedback: February 10th 2004. Final proposal submission deadline: March 10th 2004 Notification of results: May 1st 2004 Exhibition/conference dates: 1st ^?4th August 2004 Submissions (pre-proposals via email please, final proposals via mail) should be sent to: Dr Catriona Macaulay School of Design, Centre for Interactive Media Design University of Dundee Faculty of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Perth Road, Dundee DD1 4HT UK Email: catriona@computing.dundee.ac.uk + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 6. Date: 12.31.03 From: J E Lewis Lewis (rhizome@thethoughtshop.com) Subject: Tenure Track Position in Digital Media This is one of the very few undergraduate programs in North American that fully integrates computer science, design and fine arts. And Montreal is a fabulous place to live. Please don't hesitate to contact me at jason.lewis@concordia.ca (www.thethoughtshop.com) if you have any questions. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TENURE TRACK APPOINTMENT IN DIGITAL MEDIA The Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec is seeking candidates for a full-time tenure track appointment in Digital Media effective June 1st, 2004, pending budgetary approval. Digital Image/Sound and &Fine Arts (DFAR) was initiated in 1997 as a program designed to bridge two domains of study, that of Computer Science and the Fine Arts. This three-year undergraduate program guides students in developing critical paths at the intersections of art, technology and design. It highlights the study of theoretical issues related to technological innovation such as computational art, interaction design and physical computing. Teaching emphasizes non-traditional applications of digital technologies while also developing awareness of the social and political implications of new technologies and a conceptual approach to design, related to the social, cultural and ethical context in which it resides. The program has three areas of specialization: digital imaging, soundscapes, and 3D modeling/animation. The programs of study at the undergraduate level include the BFA or BSc Major in DFAR with Computer applications, BFA Specialization in DFAR and the cooperative work degree. A Design, Art and Technology masters level program is in development. Preferred candidates must have extensive experience working and teaching in one or more of the following growth areas of the program: . Interaction Design . Immersive Media . Experimental Sound . Computation Arts . Physical Computing . Mechatronics In addition, the candidate will carry out an independent research program and contribute to the administration of the Department. The ideal candidate has: . Ph.D., M.A., M.F.A. or equivalent; . teaching experience in digital media, theory and studio practice at the university level; . administrative experience and committee work at the university level; . media design and/or artistic practice and research profile; . fluency in French (this would be considered a strong asset). Please include: a letter of application; a statement of teaching philosophy; curriculum vitae; three letters of recommendation; documentation of recent work; samples of students' work; and other relevant support material. Candidates are encouraged to visit our departmental web site for additional information concerning our programs and priorities: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://digital.concordia.ca">http://digital.concordia.ca</a> Information: 1] Deadline for Applications: February 15th, 2004. (We are also accepting ongoing applications as we anticipate future positions in related computation and new media areas.) 2] This advertisement is simultaneously directed to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada and to non-Canadians. Under current Canadian immigration guidelines, the dossiers of Canadian citizens and permanent residents must be examined in the first instance, after which the applications of others will be considered. 3] Concordia University is committed to Employment equity and encourages applications from women, aboriginal peoples, visible minorities and disabled persons. Please address applications to: pk langshaw, Chair Departments of Design Art & Digital Image/Sound and the Fine Arts Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, VA-244 Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada vox: (514) 848-4626, fax: (514) 848-8627 email: design@vax2.concordia.ca + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 7. Date: 1.05.03 From: McKenzie Wark (mw35@nyu.edu) Subject: Designer Playtime A review of: Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, MIT Press, 670 pages, $49.95 This is not the first book on game design but it is the best. It is comprehensive yet comprehensible. Salen and Zimmerman break game design down in a logical manner and present to the reader step by step. It is not a book about coding electronic games. It is about the design principles of all games, whether they are played with bits, bats, chips or checkers. It is about games as a cultural code. The book is organized into four sections. The first gives the basic concepts. The three chapters that follow break game design down into three 'primary schemas': Rules, Play and Culture. This analytic approach to games has the virtue of clear organization and logical progression, although as we shall see it does introduce a quite particular perspective into the book's thinking about games. The Rules, Salen and Zimmerman propose, are a formal schema for thinking about games, while Play provides an experiential schema and Culture a contextual one. The logic of the book radiates out from the proposition that the rule-based nature of games is what is distinctive to them as a phenomenon. Games have an inner formal logic. Without it there may be 'play', but there isn't a game. "'Real Life' is full of ambiguities and partially known information, but that is one of the reasons why games as designed systems are artificial and distinct from daily existence. In ordinary life it is rare to inhabit a context with such a high degree of artificial clarity." (123) Which might explain the desire for games, if not whether that is a good or bad desire. Games have constitutive rules, which are formal mathematical logics, but also operational rules, which direct the player's behavior. There are also implicit rulesof etiquette that govern game play in general. Interestingly, games can't function without these implicit rules, and yet they are not really internal to the game. They point toward the limits of the organization of this book, which wants to treat rules as a formal system, which then generates play as an effect, which in turn takes place within a cultural context. The formal attributes of games, in this analysis, are removed from culture. And yet the implicit rules of the game point toward the close relation between the formal and cultural aspects of games. The 'Rules' section of the book explores questions of complexity, uncertainty, probability and redundancy. Salen and Zimmerman explore the difference between games with perfect information such as chess, and of imperfect information, such as poker. This latter line of analysis is particularly useful for computer games, which can hide and reveal information to the player in complex and interesting ways. Game theory also gets a brief chapter. Salen and Zimmerman find it of limited use: "It is not a general theory of games or of game design." (245) The set of games to which it can be applied is too limited. Competition and cooperation get an interesting chapter, in which the authors show how all games require both qualities. The section on rules concludes by looking at rule-breaking. "Game designers need to recognize that rule-breaking is a common phenomenon in gaming and incorporate it into their game design thinking." (285) Breaking rules can lead to new rules but only if a game has a culture of changing the rules in the interest of developing play, as Dave Hickey famously argued in his book Air Guitar is the case with the history of basketball. Rule breaking might also point to a certain limitation in thinking of play within the context of the game. Is the rule breaker still playing the game? Or has the rule breaker discovered that play can exceed the game? "Play is free movement within a more rigid structure." (304) For Salen and Zimmerman, play is both created by, and in opposition to, some limit or rule. "When play occurs, it can overflow and overwhelm the more rigid structure in which it is taking place, generating emergent unpredictable results." (305) This is a robust definition, and well argued in this book, but it depends in the end on a particular kind of metaphysics. If one takes the line of thought that runs from Heraclitus via Nietzsche to Deleuze and Derrida, one might rather say that play is a free movement that can engender more rigid structures. It is not the game that is the precondition of play, in other words, but play that is the condition of possibility of the game. Brian Massumi argues this most cogently in his book Parables of the Virtual. Salen and Zimmerman pay particular attention to Culture it is their third schema. But the conceptual organization of their book has cut the formal attributes of games off from culture, rendering them neutral. They are sensitive to the different values that games can embody. There is a fascinating section on the origins of the game Monopoly in the Landlord's Game. The latter was a critique of the evils of land monopoly, but by the time it becomes Parker Brother's commercial hit Monopoly, its values have, to say the least, changed. There is a limit to how far Salen and Zimmerman can take this embedding of games in the cultural context. They can see particular kinds of formal game structures as privileging certain kinds of play and hence certain kinds of cultural value. What they can't quite open the door to is a critique of the formal organization of play within the game in general. There is a great section on games as cultural resistance something you just don't find in many game books of any stripe. The authors offer an account of Doom as a version of the punk DIY ethos. There's great stories about 'frag queens' female skins designed for Quake, and Los Disneys, a patch for Marathon Infinity that turns the happiest kingdom of them all into a post-apocalyptic nightmare. But all these stories take place within the formal construction of the game as the necessary condition for play. While there's a nod toward the take-up of game culture within the art world, what's missing here, and also in the art world craze for game themed stuff, is that utopian tradition that tried to think play outside the realm of the game, and tried to construct landscapes within which play could find its own form. From the Situationists to Constant's New Babylon, or Richard Neville's Play Power, there was once a much wider and wilder ambition. Would it be possible to create tools that would allow people to construct their own spaces for play, in which the rules would emerge out of the act of play, in which there would be no need for the structuring repetition of formal design? The 'playing' with games in the art world might look like the next big thing, but perhaps it's really an admission of failure. The aesthetic, which was once the domain of play as something prior to and greater than the game, collapses back into formal structures of repetition. It was not the intention of Salen and Zimmerman to write a critique of games. The task they set themselves was a textbook on game design, and here they have succeeded admirably. But they do the reader an additional service by laying out in a systematic way the intellectual grounding of game culture in a metaphysics that puts the formal structure first and the movement of play second. As a consequence, the book thinks the formal and structural aspects of games much better than the aleatory movement of play. It is a book for a culture that has forgotten how to play other than in the game. And yet, at the same time, it might point toward tools for re-imagining play. German playwright Friedrich Schiller thought that play could be the exploratory, collaborative practice by which a society alienated from itself by its formal structures, its division of labor, could re-imagine and reintegrate itself. That thought lies behind the whole critical tradition. By putting games in the context of culture, Salen and Zimmerman also put back on the agenda the bigger questions of how, through play, the good life might yet be imagined, and if not built in bricks and mortar, then built at least in bits and bytes. A radical 'open source' play culture may already be on the horizon. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome.org is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization and an affiliate of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Rhizome Digest is supported by grants from The Charles Engelhard Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Rhizome Digest is filtered by Feisal Ahmad (feisal@rhizome.org). ISSN: 1525-9110. Volume 9, number 1. Article submissions to list@rhizome.org are encouraged. 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