Category: Creative Practice & Strategy

Tomorrow I’ll flying to Perth:

Perth DAC: The Future of Digital Media Culture:

The Future of Digital Media Culture
In the early 1990s, the very term digital was new and novel. However, it has taken only fifteen years for e-mail, the Internet, mobile phones, the power of searchable databases, games, film and TV special effects and workplace software tools to become a common and essential part of modern life. Research has not only described the arrival of these new forms, but is increasingly addressing the unexpected social and cultural uses of digital communications and virtual work/play environments.

In the same historically brief time, popular attention has turned to the potentials and problems of the newer new technologies, bio and nano. In addition, the global phenomenon of terrorism, super-epidemics and climate change have developed from distant concerns to everyday realities. Thus the context for digitally mediated processes is also very different.

perthDAC 2007 will explore the complex interaction of human behaviour and new technologies that will be The Future of Digital Media Culture.

I’ll be presenting a paper in which I argue that the future of digital media doesn’t just include digital media.

On Monday 17th, I’ll be presenting on Filmmaking in the Age of Cross-Media Production for the Film and TV Institute.

I look foward to seeing some colleagues and family I haven’t seen in a while, and meeting people for the first time.

In May 2007 my keyword alerts informed me of an ARG being developed to teach new literacies. The project was briefly described at Research Quest:

During the fall term of 2007, a team of faculty, librarians, instructional designers and student volunteers will be hosting an internet-based alternate-reality game (or ARG) designed to teach critical thinking and information literacy skill. The game will be targeted to college students, yet will be freely open and promoted in order to attract a broad range of participants.

After speaking to John Farquhar (with help from Perplex City puzzle-maker Peter Blake — thanks Peter!), I now know the project is well underway. Farquhar says he was inspired by the project after attending a lecture by Bryan Alexander. Although only online, it appears the project will draw on many elements of ARGs. It will commence on the 21st September 2007. So far, the only info is this paragraph on the trailhead:

William Lewis has a mystery to solve. He found a volume of a 1933 World Book Encyclopedia among his own books. Inside the book was a note with some mysterious and cryptic messages. How did it get there? What does it mean? And, where will all of this lead? Join William’s mystery here on September 21 and expect to uncover new mysteries and puzzles throughout the fall. Participate in the online forum or create your own blog of your experience. Use the online tools to: 1) describe search strategies that successfully locate additional clues, 2) critically examine the clues, documents and other sources information, and 3) guide other participants to successfully search for and critically examine information. Perhaps you’ll make new friends and learn new things.

I asked Farquhar whether he was OK with non-schools participating and he is definitely keen:

Our ARG will be open to anyone and I am encouraging participation outside of the academic community. In fact, I am particularly interested in seeing the collaboration between those participating for college credit and those who happen upon the experience for other reasons. The game is being designed to teach information literacy and critical thinking skills which I think all good ARG players seem to have.

Check it out: http://helpmesolveamystery.com/

SPACE TIME PLAY. COMPUTER GAMES, ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM: THE NEXT LEVEL
Edited by Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz and Matthias Böttger In cooperation with Drew Davidson, Heather Kelley, Julian Kücklich“Space Time Play” is a journey through the past, present and potential spaces of computer and video games.

Have you ever wondered what’s behind a perfect Tetris-wall?
Have you ever freed a 3D world from terrorists?
Have you ever made polygon friends in networked fantasy realms?
And do you know what happens when these games never end?

The richly illustrated texts in “Space Time Play” cover a wide range of gamespaces: from milestone video and computer games to virtual metropolises to digitally-overlaid physical spaces. As a comprehensive and interdisciplinary compendium, “Space Time Play” explores the architectural history of computer games and the future of ludic space. More than 140 experts from game studies and the game industry, from architecture and urban planning, have contributed essays, game reviews and interviews. The games examined range from commercial products to artistic projects and from scientific experiments to spatial design and planning tools.

“Space Time Play” is not just meant for architects, designers and gamers, but for all those who take an interest in the culture of digital games and the spaces within and modeled after them. Let’s play!

With contributions by Espen Aarseth, Ernest Adams, Richard A. Bartle, Ian Bogost, Iain Borden, Gerhard M. Buurman, Edward Castranova, Kees Christiaanse, James Der Derian, Stephen Graham, Ludger Hovestadt, Henry Jenkins, Jesper Juul, Frank Lantz, Bart Lootsma, Winy Maas, Lev Manovich, Jane McGonigal, Kas Oosterhuis, William J. Mitchell, Howard Rheingold, Katie Salen, Hans-Peter Schwarz, McKenzie Wark, Mark Wigley and many more.

And me!! I feel quite chuffed to be amongst such luminaries! I was asked to give a brief overview of Alternate Reality Games inline with the book’s theme, for the general reader. I wrote it a while ago, when Perplex City was…well…perpetual. On top of the names listed, the book also includes ARG designers Sean Stewart, Steve Peters and Dave Szulborski and tons more people you and I know. The book is out 17th Sept in Europe and in November in the USA. You can preorder at Amazon and check out the table of contents on the site: www.spacetimeplay.org