SWEATblog

November 19, 2009

CCTFC FTW

... or just CTF. It stands for Capture the Flag (or in the full version case, Creek Capture The Flag Club For The Win) and is the name of a club I have just helped co-found. We had our first meeting last night and it was met with great success, a bit less than 40 people showed up despite their tight scheduals and the snow and mud. I apologize for the lack of video, I forgot to bring a camera. But I can assure you that people were running about and some jumping down ten foot drops and over fences. The group was devoted and not once did I see a single person unhappy (well, there was someone who was a bit sad because he had to leave early, but we won't count that :P).

Our original intent was to have flexible unwriten rules that could be changed before each match ensuring the rules were fit with the current situation (weather limitations, amount of people playing, ect.) however we saw that it was critical to have concrete rules, especially since the campus (we played on the ENTIRE school grounds) is so huge and communication was limited because of that. Our original intent was to make this as much like a 3rd grade gathering as we could, harkening to my childhood when the neighborhood would play every day almost. It seems, though, that all our teachers were wrong and we are not "just like 3nd graders".

I hope to put up video of our next meeting (this coming Monday) and continue commentary on everything I'm learning and possibly how it could pertain to other things.

Posted by Esteban Fajardo at 04:13 PM | Permalink

October 27, 2009

Letting go of 20th century models for design education: a panel at AIGA Next! 2007

It has come to my attention that AIGA has posted audio of our panel (Santiago Piedrafita, Holly Willis, Moderated by Barbara Sudick) on an archival website. My memory is that Santiago and Holly made exemplary contributions and that my participation was cringe-worthy. I am afraid to give it a listen.

Direct download audio mp3 from the archive

Link to my slide deck on slide share

Link to Wiki site with supporting material that Holly assembled (free registration required to access)

Posted by Rafael Fajardo at 01:08 PM | Permalink

Crosser & La Migra to be included in Arte Nuevo InteractivA '09

Executive Curator, Raúl Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet, invited us to participate in the digital media biennial Arte Nuevo InteractivA '09 (#ANI09). He requested Crosser & La Migra, specifically to help thread a particular historical narrative. This edition of the biennial has the explicit purpose of historification, of (pro)claiming the participation of Latin-American artists in the global digital media and arts conversation. I am deeply honored that SWEAT was included. 28 of May – 30 June, 2009 Museo de la Ciudad de Mérida, Mexico And continuing existence on the server for the biennial http://www.cartodigital.org/interactiva

Posted by Rafael Fajardo at 12:00 PM | Permalink

Bloody Fun Day: cuteness and guilt

Several have already commented on Bloody Fun Day, playable over at Kongregate.
http://www.kongregate.com/games/urbansquall/bloody-fun-day
When we were brainstorming a response to the mtvU call for games about Darfur, collaborators Kara Brittain (nee Cochran), Scott Leutenegger, and I contemplated the idea that many people in our communities cared more for the well being of kittens than for fellow humans.

Posted by Rafael Fajardo at 12:00 PM | Permalink

October 26, 2009

Play and Not Play

I found a set of toys/dolls/figures in my colleague Adrienne Russell's office that represent Zapatista Rebels. They are handcrafted from felt, yarn, and balsa wood. Adrienne mentioned that they wouldn't stand up to "play" by children. A truck that she had bought for her boys at the same time fell apart within five minutes of play. The figures were meant, she thought, for adults.

What are the purposes/uses of critical toys? Are they meant for play? Is there semantic/semiotic potential in play? or only in the representation?

Some of the existing toys in the various levels of availability (markets, sharing networks, gift exchanges) are located in different places on the ludic territory. In the Not Play area I would include those that act as "fetish objects" — in the sense that they exist to invoke, evoke or provoke memory and story-telling. I would also include those that act as "sculpture" — in the sense that they have no purpose other than to exist and provide sensations to the perceiver. Additionally, I would include the "dije" (pronounced in spanish as dee'-heh) — in the sense of a devotional artifact both in the pre-columbian and catholic traditions. Are there others? Is there room in these senses of "Not Play" for manipulations that would be "Play?" Are these still "Toy?"

This post and these questions are all oblique, and stands as evidence of the formative state of my thinking on this subject.

Posted by Rafael Fajardo at 11:58 AM | Permalink

October 24, 2009

John Sharp spoke at Colorado Game Developers Association

John Sharp, game designer and educator at SCAD, spoke last night to the Colorado Game Developers Association on the subject of Art History for Game Developers. John is developing an argument in support of the Ludic Age proposition — which has been brought forward by Sutton-Smith and Zimmerman.

Sharp contends that if we are indeed in a Ludic Age, then identification with Art (capital "A" intended) is misguided. Art is to be considered the high-water mark (High Culture with capital "C") of the Visual Age, which the Ludic Age has/would/will replace. In supplanting the prior age we should have newer language to describe appropriate high-water marks for the new age. "Game," should be that mark argues Sharp.

This is a preview of his talk for GDC 2010, and I recommend attending to find out how the argument unfolds.

Posted by Rafael Fajardo at 10:55 AM | Permalink

June 03, 2009

GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm watching the US National Soccer team go against the Costa Rican National Equipo de Fútbol in San Jose. US just got pwned within one minute. It was awesome.

Posted by Esteban Fajardo at 08:11 PM | Permalink