With much assistance from an amazing team of artists and technologists, Fabulous/Fabuleux is back from oblivion and we’re installing it at the künstlerhaus in Vienna Austria, as part of the exhibition for the 2010 Paraflows festival for digital art and culture.

Opening night is tomorrow, and the show runs for a month, through October 9th.  Come play!

Franky Plays Fabulous! from Heather Kelley on Vimeo.

Typical.

On 3/23/08 11:16 AM, Karen* wrote:

Dude, can I ask you a question? I have to update my
website to list my projects, but I feel so critical
of everything I've ever done, I don't want to put
anything up. But that's stupid.  But I still feel
that way.   

On 3/23/08 12:47 PM, Heather wrote:

I'm actually going through the same thing because
i'm working on this artists talk that i have to give
in a week at my symposium, where i'm supposed to be
"an artist."  It's like, why the heck would anyone
be impressed by X?  (For example, a quickly thrown-
together DS game concept demo using badly-edited
photos of cupcakes and auto parts that I pulled off
the web?)

I think you/me/we/women just have to do some things
(and this may just be various ways of saying the same
thing over and over, plus I'm ranting):

1. Realize that the quality is there, regardless
   of our perception of it

2. Practice getting over our self-criticism to see
   what is good from an objective perspective

3. Know what to highlight and what to ignore

4. Spin Spin Spin

5. Realize people WANT to think it's good, to be
   impressed, to look up to us/someone.  So don't
   do anything to disavow them of that desire.

6. There's always the hidden insecurity behind the
   scenes, with everyone. So it's there. Who cares.

7. Talk about what is interesting about the work,
   from a completely external perspective.  If you
   were seeing this stuff for the first time, what
   would be interesting about it to you?

On 3/23/08 3:12 PM, Karen wrote:

Oh my god this email is awesome. THANK YOU. I needed this.
I wish this wasn't so hard!

Yeah, that Heather Kelley writes some decent stuff sometimes.  I should listen to her more often.

* All names (except mine) have been changed.

PDF – 14.4 mb (no video)

Keynote – 25.2 mb (with video)

PPT – 24.6 mb (with video)

I had the great privilege of working on this project with the incredible team of students at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College.  They have launched the first episode of this ground-breaking online game right in time to ride the wave of World Cup fever.  Breakaway is free to play – so pass it along to all the young people you know!

The student and faculty team at the EMC have done an amazing job at balancing the needs of institutional sponsors and partners, the interests of the young players, and the complexity of the issue itself.  I can’t wait to see what happens next!

(awesome poster by Rachel Morris)

Friday April 23 – NYC
NYU Game Center presentation and discussion – “Building the New Arcade”
721 Broadway, Room 006, 6pm
http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/?p=382

Tuesday April 27 – NYC
Readings from monochrom #26-34: Ye Olde Self-Referentiality
Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 9pm, $10
http://www.monochrom.at/mono/monochrom26-34/

Wednesday May 5 – Stuttgart
FMX Game Track keynote lecture “Diversify from the Outside In”
Haus der Wirtschaft, Bertha-Benz-Saal, 12noon
http://www.fmx.de/

Thursday May 6 – Stuttgart
FMX Games Track: Games Community Round Table
Haus der Wirtschaft, Raum Karlsruhe, 10am
http://www.fmx.de/

May 10 – Graz
Lecture and discussion – “Building the New Arcade”
FH Joanneum, Blue building 3rd Floor Studio
http://ind.fh-joanneum.at/en

May 12 – Stuttgart
Lecture and discussion – “Building the New Arcade”
Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
http://www.animationsinstitut.de/

May 18 – Berlin
Lecture and discussion – “Building the New Arcade”
MD.H, University of Applied Sciences, 3pm
http://www.mediadesign.de/

May 18 – Berlin
Guest at Game Culture Circle
http://www.amaze-festival.de/interact/

May 23 – Köln
SIGINT Panelist: “Women and Geek Culture – What’s the problem, guys?”
KOMED, MediaPark Köln
http://events.ccc.de/sigint/2010/

Hopefully no actual breastmilk was harmed in the making of this poster.

Deep in the throes of Gamma4 preparations this week, but also have some happy news for my personal efforts. At the beginning of April I’ll be in Hong Kong for an upcoming sex+tech gallery exhibit co-curated by monochrom, founders of Arse Elektronika (not to be confused with, or at least only briefly and bemusedly confused with, Ars Electronica) and Hong Kong new media gallery Videotage.

Technosexual Bodies

I’m working with Damien on a new piece called Body Heat that’s a manifestation of some concepts I’ve been thinking about for a year or so. So, they’re not showing Lapis!

This will be my first time in China, or anywhere in Asia, for that matter. Very much looking forward to it.

Please Say Something – Full Length from David OReilly on Vimeo.

Watch HD, fullscreen, with headphones.

GDC

Both of the panels I spoke on last year ended up as free content on the GDC Vault.  So, if you want to catch up on last year’s Game Design Challenge on sex+autobiography, or the Indie Game Maker Rants at the IGS, head over to the Vault and check ‘em out.

View of Lake Champlain from the Firehouse Center for the Arts

What you see here is the view from my window.  I’m in the top level of a turn-of-the-19th-century firehouse, in Burlington Vermont.  The old structure has been converted into a downtown center for the arts, and at the moment the entire ground floor has been transformed into a stylish arcade of some of the most notable “art games” (or, artistic games) of the past 3 years or so.   The show is called Game (Life) and it’s on display until February 13th if you want to come check it out.

Up here in the tower, I’m the Artist in Residence for a week.  I’m primarily working on an oral/visual history of Kokoromi and Gamma’s first four years, which I’ll present at a lecture on Friday evening at Champlain College, just up the hill.   I’ll also be doing an artist’s talk and discussion here at the Firehouse on Saturday evening, followed by a reception.   At that one I’ll talk more about my Live Game Code project, and SUGAR, since it’s on display here in the gallery arcade.

Paolo's game and SUGAR nestle up at the Firehouse