[pile of secrets]
Video series, game footage, monitors
dimensions variable
2011-2013
What is a game but a pile of secrets?
I captured several terabytes of video imagery from computer games published from 1980 – present, exploring the question, “What makes a game a game?” Common ludic elements –typically formal elements — across video games are assembled from a massive game playing database. Thematic videos from the series include Jump, Ascend, Dying, Key, Treasure, Corridor, Shooting, and Doors.
The project manifests a structural analysis of games in a creative form, exploring the quintessential elements central to the experience of digital play. The videos are shown in infinite loops alluding not only the repetitive elements but also to the repeat plays that games offer as a typical part of their structure.
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
- Telfair Museum, Savannah, Georgia, February 2012
Group Exhibitions
- Gameplay: Video Game Culture, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, December 2019 – May 2020
- ZKM Gameplay Mobile, Representing of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Germany, November – December 2013
- ZKM Gameplay Exhibition, ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, June 21 2013-2014
- video of the exhibition
- exhibition catalog (in German; English forthcoming).
- Play Station Exhibition, Postmasters Gallery, New York, New York, December 2011
- STRP Festival, Eindhoven, Netherlands, November 2011
- NextLevel Festival, Köln, Germany, November 2011
- ArtEZ Studium Generale, PLAY Festival, Zwolle, Netherlands, 2012
Press
- Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona: Gameplay. Cultura del videojoc
- Press release. “«Game On» para «Gameplay»: los videojuegos se cuelan en el museo” 19 December 2019.
Additional Credits
Sukdith Punjasthitkul, Matthew Cloyd, Mehta Punjasthitkul and Han Lee