Art Center Nabi is conducting the GAME x MEDIA ART LAB program to promote the research and creation of games as media. 

Through the first part of the program, 'Agency and Humor Seminar for Creative Game Creation', we would like to introduce what we aim to achieve through the program and the meaning of game x art research. 

Beyond the question "Are games art?"

In 2022, games will be legally included in the category of cultural arts, but that doesn't mean that we look at things like meandering games, gambling, and sea stories and call them "art." As with movies, as with comics, cultural content that rises to the level of art is merely characteristic of its medium and is exceptional in its content and presentation. Similarly, the things that people say are "artistic" are not defined by the medium, but by the way they make us feel, the way they move us, regardless of the medium.

So the question "Are games art?" needs to change. It's time for a new question.

Through this seminar, we will ask new questions for better games and media, and we will also point out how to create creative games through the two pillars of [Agency] and [Humor].

Seminar Overview

When : Saturday, May 13, 2023, 2:00 ~ 6:00 PM

Location : TAZAK MADANG (SKT UX HCI LAB, 57, Dongho-ro 20-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul) 

Speaker : Park, Jihye (Researcher, Art Center Nabi Education Team)

Program 

14:00 - 14:10  Reception

14:10 - 16:00  Agency and Humor Seminar

16:00 - 17:00  Networking 1 - Ice Breaking Board Game Session

17:00 - 18:00  Networking 2 - Free group conversations about the game

* There will be a networking program after the seminar. 

Seminar Content

1. Why we should care about games

2. When games are exhibited in museums

3. What does it take to create something new that straddles the line between art and game?

4. Creative games, examples of games that push boundaries

5. Two important factors for trying something new: agency and humor

6. Introduction of programs of Nabi GAME x MEDIA ART LAB

Archive

Our May 13 seminar, Agency and Humor for Creative Game Making, was a great success. 

Here's what we covered in the seminar

1. Why we should care about games

- Connecting to ETC Center co-founder Donald Marinelli's statement that "the younger generation is a digital tribe that never grows old," we talked about how games will become increasingly important because they are the best media for the younger generation to enjoy eternal life in a virtual space through media where the player is the protagonist. 

2. When games are exhibited in museums

- Introducing the Smithsonian's "The Art of Video Games" exhibition, MOMA's permanent collection of 14 video games, ZKM Museum of Art's "gameplay" exhibition, Lium Museum of Art's "World Construction" exhibition, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art's "Game Society" exhibition, we explained why games should be introduced in museums and what improvements are needed in the way games are exhibited. In this regard, we also introduced the "2021 Game Crew" and "2022 Board Game Crew," the media art x game creation education programs held by Art Center Nabi.

3. What does it take to create something new that straddles the line between art and game?

- We rethought the stereotypes of art and games as expressions and talked about what approaches are needed to create something new at the boundary between games and art. We conveyed the idea that there are various aspects of game culture other than direct play, and that a creative approach requires a broader understanding of games and the use of their elements in creation.

4. Creative games, examples of games that push boundaries

- We introduced various game projects to illustrate the boundary-breaking creativity discussed above. Famous video games such as <Journey>, <Braid>, <Fez>, <CoffeeTalk>, and <This War of Mine>, reality-based AR games such as <Pokémon Go> and <Ingress>, classic board games such as <Root> and <Modern Art>, and big games such as <Invader> and <Pack Manhattan>, "viewing games" like <The genius> and <Crime Scene>, and in-game art projects like <Erangel Dark Tour>, <Graeae : Resident Gods>, and <The Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft>.

5. Two important factors for trying something new: agency and humor

- The final part of the seminar emphasized the importance of agency and humor for borderline convergent attempts. C. Thi Nguyen, a professor of philosophy at the University of Utah in the United States, defines games as an art that provides a unique aesthetic experience that no other art can provide, and as an art that takes 'agency' as its medium. To introduce the audience to the interesting approaches in the book, such as struggle-based play and aesthetic responsibility, and to make it easier to understand the concept of agency, we watched a gameplay video by YouTuber 'Panzazip Dog'. If performativity, the first pillar of creative endeavor, is methodological, the second emphasis of the seminar, 'humor', was about the attitude of the creator. We concluded the seminar by comparing cynicism and humor, and talking about the importance of humor in creativity as a container to escape from the 'game/art' dichotomy.

GAME x MEDIA ART LAB

Agency and Humor for Creative Game Making

Read about program archiving 

① Seminar  2023. 5. 13.  ▶View details

② Workshop  2023. 6. 10 ~ 7. 16.  ▶View details

③ Community  2023. 10. 7 ~ 2024. 2. 29.  ▶View details

Planning & operations  Jihye Park

Contact  pgeezz@nabi.or.kr