September 21, 2006
London Games Festival Fringe, Cybersalon and Select Parks
Artful Gaming
ARTFUL GAMING FORUM :: Thursday, 5th October 2006, 1-10pm :: The Science Museum's Dana Centre. ARTFUL GAMING EXHIBITION :: Monday 2nd, 2-6pm, Tuesday 3rd - Thursday 5th, 10am-6pm, Friday, 6th October, 10am-2pm :: The Science Museum's Dana Centre. More info at Cybersalon.
As part of the London Games Festival Fringe, Cybersalon and Select Parks host Artful Gaming at the Science Museum's Dana Centre - a one-day forum and week-long exhibition that spotlights innovation and platforms new work, new developments and new thinking in gaming culture.
Through an exhibition of key works, artistic and technical 'knowledge sharing' workshops, panel discussions, artist talks and playful interactions Artful Gaming will explore a series of key questions at the frontiers of gaming innovation: :: How are independent developers and artists exploring and extending the horizons of both gaming and art? :: How are they shaping alternative approaches that challenge traditional games development and distribution? :: What impact could this exploration have on the mainstream gaming sector and the longer-term development of gaming and gaming culture?
The programme showcases artists and developer groups and small pioneering agencies developing alternative gaming experiences - be it devising new interactive interfaces; exploring non-traditional gaming environments; modifying existing game engines; using innovative R&D and production methods; or distributing their work via new networks.
The sharing of expertise, technical or otherwise, formed the original 'grass roots' of game development, as we know it today. Artful Gaming aims to foster this tradition by bringing the underground art games community into contact and dialogue with small, independent commercial gaming agencies and make them more visible to the commercial gaming sector and to game enthusiasts, London's digital art community and the general public. Artful Gaming will make the case that art games are to the game industry what short films are to the film industry; that you don't have to work in the industry to experiment with game design/development; and that gaming should be reclaimed as a medium for any use, not only 'entertainment'.
Contributors, speakers and works include: Myfanwy Ashmore - Mario Battle No. 1, Ed Cookson of The Sancho Plan - The Sancho Plan, Ole Ciliox of Susigames - EdgeBomber, Toshi Endo - Chit Chat National Park, Adam and Aaron Fothergill of Strange Flavour Ltd, Ruth Gibson and Bruno Martelli of Igloo - Summerbranch, Tanya Krzywinska, Reader in Film and TV Studies, Brunel University, Julian Oliver of Select Parks, Anthony Rowe of squidsoup - Ghosts and others to be confirmed.
A full programme for the forum and exhibition will be announced shortly on the Artful Gaming micro site via the Cybersalon website.
Cybersalon gratefully acknowledges support from the Science Museum's Dana Centre, UK Online/Sky Broadband and Creative London.
THE LONDON GAMES FESTIVAL :: Monday, 2nd - Saturday, 7th October 2006 :: The London Games Festival is a new major international event to celebrate the diverse creativity and cultures of interactive entertainment. The festival is the first of its kind in a country that is both one of the leading sources of creativity and innovation in video games and other interactive media as well as an international centre of business excellence in a rapidly growing industry.
The LGF programme will include a series of diverse events for consumers as well as industry. Participants will include publishers, developers, creative professionals, artists, students, trade organisations, academia, arts and media organisations as well as anyone who just likes to play.
The LGF is unique in the UK in being backed by every sector of the games industry: developers, publishers, platform owners and trade associations. The mainstream of the festival will include a range of consumer-facing events in major venues alongside B2B events organised by the industry's trade bodies and other organisations. It includes BAFTA's relaunched Games Awards.
The Festival's ambition is to become the most significant event in the world celebrating the culture and creativity of video games and interactive entertainment.
THE LONDON GAMES FESTIVAL FRINGE
This year's London Games Festival includes a festival fringe that explores the cultural aspects of interactive entertainment, their creative form and how there is a market that often falls outside the recognised games industry. The fringe is designed to recognise that many computer games and most digital play, fall beyond the scope of the mainstream games industry.
It encompasses a spectrum of activity: performances, exhibitions, master classes and seminars, participatory workshops and, of course, opportunities to play. Areas of interest include; independent game development and distribution, participatory community play, the future of game design, artists' games, live action role-play, augmented reality games, interactive storytelling and much more.
The Fringe will be a source of inspiration, innovation and opportunity; a series of events aimed at new entrants and people who would like to develop their careers in the industry - especially those currently under-represented.
The London Games Festival and Fringe is supported by the Creative London (London Development Agency), TIGA, ELSPA, BAFTA, 01zero-one and a range of developers, publishers and educational institutions.
Posted by jo at September 21, 2006 04:55 PM
