Video games a go-go
Video games and their role in today’s digital culture is the subject of this year’s medi@terra: International Art + Technology Festival, which is organized by the Fournos Center for Digital Culture and begins today at the Technopolis arts complex in Gazi. «Gaming Realities,» which is the title of the festival, includes a five-day conference, an exhibition of 30 artworks which employ new media and the technique of video, as well as the presentation of video games and short films (the so-called «machinima» which is a composite word from machine, animation and cinema) that are based on the aesthetics and techniques used in video games. This third part of the festival will also focus on the relationship between video games and cinema. The festival’s participants come from all over the world and include artists, researchers and scientists. Chris Crawford, an author and designer of games for Atari; Espen Aarseth, professor and researcher at Copenhagen’s Center for Computer Game Research; Julian Dibbell, contributor to Wired magazine; Eric Zimmermann, game designer and founder of GameLab, and free software developer Julian Oliver are among the participants in the conference. For info, contact the Fournos Center for Digital Culture (168 Mavromichali, tel 210.646.0748) or visit www.mediaterra.org. The festival will take place at Technopolis (100 Pireos), October 4-8.
