Promiscuous Spaces
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Games Betwixt and Between
Presentation Title:
- Promiscuous Spaces
Venue(s):
Abstract:
Panel: Games Betwixt and Between
Somewhere in between the dingy mall arcade and the gallery performance space sits the new arcade. At experimental game spaces such as New York’s Babycastles, and arcade events such as Kokoromi’s Gamma, games by (and for) artists mingle with quirky auteur experiments; game industry hopefuls rub shoulders with DJs and musicians, electronic artists, and artistic voyeurs. The design and curation of such games demands a holistic perspective on gameplay that acknowledges and encourages fluid movement between gameplay, spectatorship, and emergent collective experience. The result is a social and performative hybrid—aestheticized play. This paper contextualizes “art”-cade and performative public gaming, and explores how the new arcade engages casual and indiscriminant acts of ludic experience.