Interactive computer game exhibition on at Burnie - Garden Of Forking Paths

Monday, 26 July 2010

Burnie Regional Art Gallery Media Release

The exhibition Garden Of Forking Paths - a unique show which draws together notable historic and contemporary examples of computer and video games - will be opened by Curator Neil Jenkins this Friday 30 July at 3.30pm at the Burnie Regional Art Gallery.

d/Lux/MediaArts presents this touring exhibition, with works created by ten Australian and international artists that push the bounds of the genre and break the orthodox set of gaming rules.

This exhibition will challenge younger audiences’ conventional understanding of what a computer game is, providing a hands on exploration of just how different everything was back in the 80’s and 90‘s - text based games, low res graphics and bleepy sound effects.

All of the pieces but one in the show can be played by visitors and will raise many questions about the individual artists perspective on play, narrative, technology and interaction.

Perhaps most famous of all the artists is American Laurie Anderson, who has had a long fascinating career, climaxing with her hit song “O Superman” in the eighties. Another famous artist in the show is famed composer Michael Nyman, who wrote the score for the movie The Piano, and many of the films of Peter Greenaway.

The other aritists are Jaron Lanier, Hsin-Chien Huang, Andy Deck, Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie, Anita Fontaine and Mike Pelletier and Tale-of-Tales which is an indepedent game company initiated by artists Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn.

The curator of the exhibition Neil Jenkins works extensively with Furtherfield, an artist-led group that utilises networked media to create and promote the art that bridges the boundaries between established art-world institutions, grass-roots artistic and activist projects and communities of socially-engaged software developers.

Neil will be giving a talk and demonstration of his exhibition at 3.30pm on Saturday 31 July.

Garden Of Forking Paths will open in conjunction with two other exhibitions: Littoral and Through Botanical Eyes by Northwest Botanical Artists

Exhibition dates: Saturday 31 July – Sunday 12 September 2010

Curator Neil Jenkins and Tara Morelos Acting Director of d/Lux Media Arts can make themselves available for photo and interview upon request. Please contact the Gallery.

All welcome. Admission free