On Tuesday, April 20th at 7pm the second grand master tournament of Mortal Kombat Dance Dance Revolution will take place. This is a double elimination tournament. Come early to get in on some practice rounds. The fighting will take place in Room 241 of the Art building on the San Jose State Campus. In case you’re not from around these parts, here is a map to the SJSU Art Building (the green arrow not the ‘a’)
On March 21 2010 we burned down our gallery. Its strange to think about a virtual organization going virtualer. Due to the fact that more and more of our work existed in different worlds or often between worlds we decided to let go of our home. We are now digital nomads wandering from realm to realm. The Ars Virtua Gallery and New Media Center had a long and illustrious history with an impressive roster of artist exhibitions and performances. This is not an end as much as it is a rebirth.
The performance of destruction was carried out by Second Front. The building burned and crumbled to the ground. Then a war broke out in the ruins, it was all very poetic, and by morning all that was left was a small crater full of green grass. I took several photos of the event, and a discussion thread grew spontaneously out of one of them. Many old friends that helped establish Ars Virtua in its fledgling years returned for one last hurrah. It was good to catch up with familiar “faces” before we were all set ablaze with flame throwers and nukes. A post gallery performance was held a week later by Selavy Oh and Qiezli Hixantapo. Dealing with the life and afterlife of the space. We all went to heaven… for a little while.
The members of Ars Virtua are not stopping what they do or even slowing down. We have a new intern, Jen (Aliah Nakajima), keeping us on track and a new show opening in Chilbo.
I’m working on an artshow for late summer that combings games, art and education. Its called Learn to Play and it will be amazing, but that’s not what this post is about. Through some connection with De-Bug I ended up meeting La Mar Williams who is working on a project that parallels our own. We found ourselves in a lively discussion about the impotence of death and repetition in games. For instance, because you die a lot in Queens is what gives it much of its meaning. As we reviewed indi-games that we would like to include in the show he asked me if we were also looking at the modding community and I was like “yes, of course” and then he turned me on to the awesomeness that is Gravity Bone. Watch these: Gravity Bone Part1, Gravity Bone Part2
…But don’t get sidetracked. What I want to do here is promote La Mar’s Project, You Meet the Nicest People Making Video Games. This documentary he is working on involves traveling across the country to interview indi-game devs. It sounds like the way I way I want to spend my life. He is still rising funds but even if it is not completed by summer, I’d like to find a way to work elements into Learn to Play.
