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Dark Mode vs. Light Mode

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Interaction Action

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I’m great at parties. I only sit in the corner for most of them.

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Artist Presentation: Peter Burr

https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/step-inside-a-glitchy-alternate-universe-inspired-by-dungeon-crawler-video-games http://www.peterburr.org/ http://prostheticknowledge.tumblr.com/

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Youth Empowerment

Youth empowerment is possibly the most important topic we have discussed so far. Teens are the future, and ir is apparent that they are paying attention to media, social interactions with their school, city, and neighborhood. They experience sometimes-negative experiences when dealing with people, but they have a safe place to talk about these issues within their community, It is very tough to talk about, but if there is a group that is a safe place it becomes much easier. It’s sad that these places are needed, but there has been some pressure to change the system, and Global Action Project is a part of that. It is a youth produced, youth lead movement that tackles hard topics in a lighthearted manner by making pieces of video art as a response. The video missing pieces shows sophistication of video composition as well as narrative, which is very clear and effective. Although it is awkward, it feels genuine and comes from a sincere place, which is effective when dealing with youth empowerment. Teens will listen to their peers and will grow most when dealing with other people their age. While Missing Pieces deals with the personal lives of LGBT youth, Pipeline deals with a broader scheme. It talks about how youth interact with economic struggle, and ideas on how to change it. They struggle with access of education needed in order to stay above the minimum of survival while surpassing the need for criminal activity in order to make ends meet. They explore this subject with a video adaptation in order to solve this problem.

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Queer Art and Tech Failure

Glitching Final fantasy lets you take different paths in the game, which is more realistic to life, really. There are not set boundaries, and as Final Fantasy VI: Breaking Narrative, Glitching Gender by Andrew Ferguson says, there is an infinite amount of ways to break the game. This is very freeing as a LGBT individual because it is pretty close to real life. There are set boundaries, but it is not what the world is really like. You can twist and turn it to make your own narrative; in fact, the boundaries put in place are not accessible to anyone. They are fabricated, a farse. There is no rule and mandating to this, and there shouldn’t be. There is more to life than just following the rules set in place. In fact, there are no rules. You learn from failure more than you do from a success, whatever that may be for you. A Failure teaches you the ways in which you interacted with the subject and reflects on your instinctual response. A Failure to one is not a failure to others, and I think what others view as a failure is not always the right way of thinking about the student’s piece. It should be viewed as an insight into their mind; accessing what they have presented as their background, way of life, has presented. What you teach is to fuel that presentation, fueling the flame inside their heart and inspiring them to go further with their work. It feels so nice when they make something that they are proud of and want to show the world.

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Blue Screen Death is not what it seems

Reading Sympathy for the Blue Screen of Death attempts to reconcile the ideas of anger towards computers and especially the blue screen, by giving information and history to help the reader understand from a widened perspective. Evan Meaney explains that the screen is merely a warning, and it tries to figure out the problem but can’t on its own. When it comes to educating or interacting with people when they express anger, Evan alludes to the idea that this is the same thing with people – that they are complex and want to give you feedback. The anger from people is usually caused from a reaction to something else, and it is good to investigate that before retaliating. It’s good to talk this over with the person, to figure out the source of the anger or sadness and address it. This would really make a difference when dealing with children who are considered a problem, because there is often something else going on that is causing the anger. It is important to be empathetic as well as intrinsic to the systems set in place in order to correctly deal with issues in a public setting such as a school. The hard part is, when someone is going through something that is tough and hard to deal with, people like to pretend that it doesn’t exist or, worse, that they are lying. It’s just easier for them to deal with in every day life. People don’t want to stop, sit down, and understand someone if it takes a long time or it conflicts with what they view the world or how they view the person. With illness like depression or autism or stereotypes of LGBT and race, people tend to put a stereotype and pull everything together and compartmentalize because it’s easier than understanding fully. This is very tough for the afflicted person’s psyche, as they spiral into self doubt and alienation from other people. It’s not about when technology fails but when we fail to recognize the problem.

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What have I done

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Glitch: Pony Island

When a game breaks rules and expectations, it gives way for an unexpected set of learning. It teaches that art is the same sort of way, where it has a solid structure but that structure can be broken, and needs to be broken at times. If everyone did 100% accurate anatomical drawing, the world would be a very boring place when it comes to art. The fact that people break boundaries is what makes someone human, and when they show that to children especially, it makes the child be more confident in themselves. In reality, everyone is different and should break their expectations daily in order to improve and be happy. This helps them realize the potential and individuality in themselves, without trying to mimic another artist’s work. The best thing about art is the freedom to show the world something it hasn’t seen before. In addition, I feel that the part of the game with Asmodeus.exe is an example of attention in a classroom setting, forcing you to pay attention and not minimize or close out of the application, and paying attention when it fakes sending messages from your friends over Steam to distract you. It’s pretty close to how it is trying to pay attention in a media classroom.

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Education and Playing Videogames

In a videogame, it is not expected that someone can learn things. In the game Gone Home, the player arrives home finding that their family is missing. It sends the player rummaging through the house for answers, finding clues, and unlocking hidden areas of the house. What is known from the players perspective is unknown. The structure of this game is pretty mold breaking, as it does not have a set of rules and roles to guide you, but relies on your intuition from reading the clues. It helps you get immersed in the world, grow empathy by walking in the shoes of the girl who finds her family missing. This rule breaking is parallel to the game’s plot, where it is revealed that the player’s sister is gay and has been keeping a secret relationship from their family. This game is empowering in that way, proving that it can function and be a fun game even without set roles. It extends beyond expectations, and holds the groundwork for similar games to follow. This kind of mindset is beneficial when dealing with these topics that have a history of violent backlash, especially today with the political collective.

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access denied

[ACCESS DENIED.] People feel alienated if they don’t have a representation of like-minded self in media.

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Tamagatchisona

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Problem with Videogames (Continue?)

My immediate thought after reading The Problem with Videogames is the date it came out. There has been a lot more research and development of games that are not Shoot-em-ups, and games that are made more exclusive as the game developers become more aware of their audience. (The Problem with Videogames mentions that it is a mostly male-dominated venue, but it is actually closer to 50/50 male and female.) Beyond that I wanted to write about other games that have queer characters like Persona 4 Mass Effect 3, and Fable. Although have realized unfortunately a lot of the portrayals in the past have been pretty negative whenever LGBT is portrayed, such as the character being alien or a villain. The Game Theorists on youtube points out a distinct trend of Anti-LGBT in videogames. Examples would be the Magypsys (aliens) from Mother 3 and Birdo from Mario (villain). In GTA5, Trevor who is bisexual is a villain and mentally unstable, and queer characters from Metal Gear Solid, Vamp, Volgan, and Raikov, are all villains. It’s pretty disheartening that there are so many examples of these games with a negative portrayal vs. the few games I mentioned above.  Although, recently there have since been a few games with positive queer characters, most notably is the very popular Undertale which came out 2 years ago. It is one of the only games that refers to your character, Frisk, as “they”, so it does not assume that you are male or female. Notable queer characters are Mettaton, Aphys, Undyne and Papyrus.The cutest moment of the game in my opinion is Aphys’ date with your character, where she reveals she has a crush on the female character Undyne, and not you. Undyne overhears this and it’s pretty funny and sweet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLjxd_MAuE I look forward to continuing to see great games like Undertale which include these dialogs, and the gameplay is fun and challenging as well.

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Grief

Grief, especially political grief, is a hard topic to deal with, especially when it takes a long time to heal or doesn’t go away. The episodes of Korra and Steven Universe are linked in their idea of staying strong during fear, when you doubt yourself, and grief from mistakes and tragedy. It’s hard to know how to react when something impactful happens, but it’s good to know that it can be resolved little by little over time through determination and faith in one’s self(ves), like Korra and Stevonne had overcome. When addressed with grief, it’s hard for people (especially children), to react negatively, but it’s important to communicate in a soft-spoken and caring way, even if the adversary does not respect you. This kind of mindfulness helps with stopping the cycle of aggression that Judith Butler addresses in Precarious Life. Sometimes issues take a very long time to resolve because of this, but it is important to be determined and steadfast in peaceful interactions, especially with teaching. It is tough to address these issues of grief because often times the pain does not go away, but it can be replaced.

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Glitching Girlhood

I have read through Glitch Perfect: Malfunction and the Machinic Assemblage of Girlhood a few times now and there is a lot to discuss and take in, as the topic of girlhood is a difficult topic sometimes. The work of the girls is quite important, as they manipulate the meaning of the videos into their own meaning. The art of glitching is very chaotic in nature, as it is compared to destruction and something that has gone wrong. In reflection to this, the girls who have committed first-time non-violent crimes have been associated with destruction and something that has gone wrong, such as the justice system that holds them. It is important to investigate what girlhood means in the larger social scheme, as media/social media expects them to look, act, and feel, and how reality is very different from this, exclusively all of the time. It is pretty well known that most all of images of women are manipulated, idealized, and objectified in nearly every faucet of media, and helping a younger girl realize that these images are false and unrealistic is essential to their wellbeing and growth. It is also important to note that the representations of women are very often not inclusive, especially dealing with race, religion, and orientation. They could then believe that this is unacceptable to be who they are. Glitch art helps take back what has been hidden away. Glitch feminism is an example of this, challenging the gendered norms of media and advocating to manipulate and disrupt this view. As it says in the Glitch Manifesto, “it is important to take apart and obliterate the very material constructions of the body in orer to create an entirely new visual reference, or a new system.” Disrupting this frame of reference disrupts the common view of commercial marketing of the female body and puts more control into the hands of the artists. I believe this was especially effective with teaching, as girls can be empowered by the art of making something beautiful with tools that are unconventional and once viewed as problematic.