Welcome! You've landed on the BBB (Bittanti's Bulletin Board).
I'm an academic researcher. I work with the Stanford Humanities Lab at Stanford University as a Research Associate. I also teach at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and Oakland. I am a curator for the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose'. I like to write (WIRED, Rolling Stone, LINK etc.). I like to create stuff.
Above all, I love playing videogames.
The July issue of Rolling Stone Italy - Bruce Springsteen on the cover - features my profile of Indie developer James Silva, the author of the outstanding 2D game The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade service. Right column: my rants on EA Sports Active: Personal Trainer, a Jane Fonda simulator for the digital age.
I am delighted to announce that Gianni Canova's film magazine, Duellanti, is back online after a long hiatus.
Both the magazine and site are in Italian, but the content is global.
The latest issue - with a glorious shot of lars Von Trier's AntiChrist on the cover - features interviews with Quentin Tarantino, Lars Von Trier and Slavoj Zizek.
Check the new HQ here.
I will be in Venice, Italy on July 16 for a one-day presentation and round-table on The Art of Games.
Click here to download the full program: Download Programma venezia TAOG
Related: The Art of Games, full report
Game Art, unlimited.
Background info: Originally, a videoludica's channel, GameScenes.
Now, a full-fledged blog (!).
Would you like to play? Drop me a line.
The first entries: Harmon, Colacito, PLAY STATION, Jacobo.
Under the head line Taking the Time to Study Speed the Stanford site has a good little piece up on our Speed Limits project:
“Life in the fast lane” is a contemporary phrase we often use to describe exciting, action-packed events in our lives, but just what is the human obsession with speed? Jeffrey Schnapp, Stanford professor of Italian and of Comparative Literature, explores this very question in an exhibit titled, Speed Limits, at the Canadian Center for Architecture (CCA)." (Inside the Human Experience, Stanford University)
Read the full article [Thank you, Henrik!]
What is the future on museums? Above all, do museums have a future?
"A parallel goal is to attract thought leaders to The Tech to engage communities in deeper understanding and informed debate on the challenges of tomorrow. While the Futures Committee will initially identify some of the key challenges of tomorrow, the longer-term goal is for the committee to move to a facilitation role through the development and support of tools for broad community involvement in future gallery idea, development and renewal. In general, the committee should look 5-10 years into the future in order to achieve maximum relevancy to corporate strategic planning groups, foundations, academicians, and venture capitalists.
It is contemplated that this vision will include multiple feedback mechanisms to assess the success of the physical and virtual galleries. Some feedback mechanisms may include wisdom of crowd tools such as predictive markets, simulation gaming, and other emerging tools for collaboration and dialogue." (Harry Blount)
On April 24-25 2009, The Stanford Humanities Lab and the Center for Internet and Society organized Play Machinima Law, a two-day conference will cover key issues associated with player-generated, computer animated cinema that is based on 3D game and virtual world environments. Speakers included machinima artists/players, legal experts, commercial game developers, theorists, and more. [You can read a full recap here.]
The latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine - Depeche Mode on the cover and boy, I just can't get enough of these guys - features my comments on the amazing Rythmn Paradise (DS), Punch Out!! (Wii) and the lovely Adventureland.
By the way, here's the new website for the mag.
These are two Game Art projects that obviously inspired my recent video installation:
Cory Arcangel's "F1 Racer Mod" (2004)
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This is a simple mod I did of the old Japanese famicom driving game F1 Racer. Basically I just took out the game, cars, etc, and left the road. Check below for the ROM and source code..... ps - sometimes I also refer to this project as "Japanese Driving Game"...which isn't such a good title, but........
Text and images @ Cory Arcangel - original post here
The second is from one of my favorite Game Artists is Aram Bartholl. Particularly relevant, in this context, is his 2006 project "Speed". In true barthollianesque style, this installation illustrates what happens when video game conventions are applied to real-life situations. Bartholl imagines a game-like world where HUD and ludic interfaces are projected onto urban environments. Take a look:
[Additional resources: A conversation with Aram Bartholl]
| Speed - by Aram Bartholl (2006) Movie 3min: Vimeo or YouTube Speed from aram bartholl on Vimeo. "The Installation Speed is a transformation of the big flashing arrows from the computer game “Need for Speed Underground 2, NFSU 2” to real space. Although computer games always try to imitate the physical world there are always elements, objects and behaviours which only exist in the virtual world. In the game NFSU 2 the player drives a car through a simulated city. Part of the game is to drive races against opponents in the city. To make the race track more visible big flashing arrows separate the track from the rest of the streets. These arrows have a special semipermeable function. The car of the player bumbs into them and can not cross them. For the “normal” simulated city traffic these arrows have no effect, they are passing right through them. Aram Bartholl 2006"
[text and imaes @ Aram Bartholl - originally posted here] |
