In this talk, digital artist Adonis Archontides will discuss his ongoing photographic documentation of video game worlds, situating it as an artistic interrogation of labor, agency and immersion while gaming. He will explore several related projects including Postcards from Quarantine and #roadtrip, tracing an evolution in his conceptual approach. Comparing the sense of familiarity and possibility when revisiting these spaces to the state of “flow”, Archontides will outline notions of gaming as artistic meta-labor. He will also critique mechanics-driven photo modes as diminishing organic expression, instead finding value in subverting prescribed game systems to enable self-directed play. Ultimately Archontides will reflect on the resonance created between digital exploration and artistic questioning, spaces where potent ideas around cultural literacy, commodification of activity and the pursuit of meaningful engagement continue to unfold.
You can watch the presentation here, it starts around the 1h43m mark.
