Friday, February 22nd
Interaccess | 10pm
Performance
Using games as the focal point for discussions of gender and embodiment, these performances address the representations of gender in gaming culture and technologies.
In their performance, Itagaki Interface, Daniele Hopkins and Kyle Duffield use their own bodies to challenge exaggerated representations of the human body in the fighting game Dead or Alive, by Tomonobu Itakagi. The game features hyper feminized and hyper masculinized bodies in one on one combat. The artists wear modified game controllers on their chests, acting as human game controllers. The audience is confronted with the challenge of having to play one another in the game by manipulating the controllers worn by the artists. This piece is a hybridization of 70s body-centric performance art and new media interactive performance, challenging us all to consider the ways in which our bodies are represented in interactive media.
Angela Washko’s work explores gender and feminism within the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Her project, “Chastity and The Council on Gender Sensitivity and Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft,” was recently awarded the Terminal Award from the Center of Excellence in the Creative Arts at Austin Peay State University. Angela’s performance will centre around confronting other players in the World of Warcraft over their definitions of feminism. Rather than confront players with swords and magic, she’ll be confronting them with dialogue, challenging assumptions of gender and its perception within digital game players.
Performers:
Angela Washko
Daniele Hopkins and Kyle Duffield
