Creating relation

: how some game features can be applied to digital contemporary art

Abstract

The evolution of technology has increasingly improved the quality of long-distance communication, but with a price: the seemingly decreased value of local direct human contact. Simultaneously, art theories like the Relational Aesthetic posit that contemporary art is increasingly preoccupied in closing this distance gap by providing sociability contexts that are based on creating proximity and relation among the public, leading to an enhanced form of public interaction in art. This study comes as an attempt to join these two factors in the same problematic by suggesting the use of technology in different ways; in ways that enhance local social contexts instead of fighting against them. And in order to improve upon other efforts, it suggests the application of game theory in these technology based art works. Games have a well-known potential for generating proximity between people that play together, so by applying select characteristics that make games desirable to digital contemporary art works it is possible to leverage this technological advantages to perform meaningful sociability contexts. This study aims to explain some of these game characteristics and their application in fields other than video games: like for example art works. As a proof of concept, it also contains a detailed description of an example interactive installation: from the technology that powers it to the aesthetic and functional choices that ultimately define it. The feedback and analysis of this interactive installation led to the conclusion that this is in fact a valid and effective approach towards the building of socially significant contexts. This success does not mean that the application of game theory to other contexts is a panacea for all social problems, though, but instead prompts for further discussion about the impact of video games on contemporary culture.

Date of Award	3 Sept 2012
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cristina Sá (Supervisor) & Helder Dias (Co-Supervisor)