24.05.2017

IAM Open Lecture #8

Der Vortrag findet am 24. Mai 2017 um 18:30h im IAM Media Lab, Kronesgasse 5/3, Graz statt. This talk presents current research on the relation between digital environments in games, and embodied experience out in the world, through the figure of the modern architectural ruin – or, the ruins of the recent past. Ruined cities in games, and specifically the ruins of cities that players might reasonably recognise (London, Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington), provide an interesting focal point for debates around meaning and representation; digital space, and the nature of play in 3D and virtual spaces in games. In particular, design practice and play practice can be interrogated through in-person encounters – both the playful navigation of ruinous cityscapes in games, and the dream-like exploration of actual cities using data and experiences that are derived from gameplay. This talk describes a theoretical and methodological approach to both the study of virtual environments and contexts of digital design and communication, through the critical capacities afforded by ruins and ruination, which reveal a relationship between digital architectures, and lived and situated encounters in urban space. more...