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• Name: Bioshock • Date: August 2007 • Developer: 2K Games (Boston & Australia branches) • Creators: Directed and Written by Ken Levine. Designed by Paul Hellquist. Programmed by Christopher Kline. Art by Scott Sinclair. Composed by Garry Schyman. • Publisher: 2K Games • Summary: Bioschok is a first person shooter videogame released in 2007 for Multiple platforms, initially Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. It is set in 1960, where the player guides the main protagonist and playable character, Jack, to the underwater city of Rapture after his plane crashes in the ocean above. Rapture was built by Andrew Ryan, as a super-capitalist independent city state. It was designed with the ideas put forward by real-life author Ayn Rand. The place lacked laws goverened by morals, so over time, Rapture became entrenched in medical issues surrounding ADAM- a genetic material that can be used in tandem with EVE and Plasmids to grant people certain super powers. The whole process is highly addictive and physically damaging, leading to the collapse of Rapture. Jack arrives right as the city is falling. In using plasmids for himself, Jack’s goal is to escape the city while also saving certain people along the way. • Analysis: This game is a rare gem that exceeds not only in beautiful visuals and fun gameplay, but also has a deep and interesting political and moral message. It is an effective commentary on all-out capitalism using real life references from famous author Ayn Rand, which are implemented fabulously through the glamorous 60’s aesthetic of the game. The environment is stunningly immersive, with the music and visuals pushing both the practical and emotional aspects of the game forward. It demonstrates in a brilliant way the capabilities of a video game as an art form. The concept alone is fascinating; that of an underwater city plagued by its own creation. The world building is rich with this game, from the once-human “splicers” to the terrifying Little Sisters and their Big Daddies who protect them. The game offers choices in terms of morality; one can choose to kill all Little Sisters and gain the ADAM they posses, kill between one and two for a middle ground moral level, or kill none for the moral high road. With whatever choice is made, the player will face many unique and challenging gameplay options in both combat, puzzle, and strategy formats. Though I haven’t had a chance to play this game all the way through, I hope to get the chance to some day as it is clearly a phenomenal work of art.

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• Name: Slender • Date: June 2012 • Developers: Parsec Productions • Creators: Designed and Composed by Mark J. Hadley. • Publisher: Parsec Productions. • Summary: Slender is an indie first person survival horror game based off of the “Slender Man” legend. The character originated online through the “Creepypasta” internet culture, created in 2009 for a paranormal photoshop edit contest by Eric Knudsen. The original black and white photos depict groups of children, to which Eric added a tall, thin, spectral figure in a black suit and with no face in the background. He appears to have several dark tentacles protruding from his back. This feature varies in depictions of the character. His main intentions seem to surround stalking and abducting people, especially children, and especially in the woods. In the game created by Parsec Productions, the you play as an unnamed person, waking up in an unnamed section of woods at night. Your only objective, given by unvoiced text upon waking up, is to collect all 8 pages (while avoiding the Slenderman). The only controls are turning on and off the flashlight, walking, jogging, sprinting, and picking up the pages, which are found on various structures within the forest, such as the big tree or the tunnel. The longer the game goes on or the more pages that are collected, the more difficult it becomes to avoid the Slenderman. Additionally, as more pages are collected, new scary ambient sounds are layered in, such as a distant stomping, wind, and a low drowning sound. If the player successfully gets all 8 pages, the sounds stop, and the player is able to walk around for a short amount of time before being caught by the Slenderman. The game ends after this, but successfully getting the pages unlocks new game modes and a different ending scene in the daytime. • Analysis: Though this game is very simple, with only one objective and a very short play time, it is very successful at being scary. It is a somewhat difficult game to play, as the way the Slenderman moves is erratic; though he is never seen walking, he can teleport around, meaning you will probably be unlucky and run into him, thus ending the game. The only way to tell where he is is by the fact that looking in his direction when he is near causes the screen to become more grainy. If he teleports near, there is also usually an abrupt beeping sound and a screen glitch. Things like noise and light attract him, meaning the flashlight and sprinting will draw him in more. The pages don’t offer any advice, only scary drawings and words of the Slenderman. Simple and effective, this game is a great simple horror game that anyone can enjoy.

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Name: Night in the Woods

Published: February 2017

Developer: Infinite Fall

Creator: Designed, composed, and programmed by Alec Holowka. Art by Scott Benson. Written by Bethany Hockenberry and Scott Benson.

Publisher: Finji

Summary: Night in the Woods is a single-player adventure platforming game on Steam. It is an exploration/narrative-based game in which the player controls Mae, an anthropomorphic cat who recently has dropped out of college and come back to her hometown to discover many unexpected changes. Aside from slowly working through the games stages, there are also several “mini games” throughout, helping to make the game more fun and diverse. There are several different characters who you can interact with and talk to. Though you can sometimes choose your dialogue, it doesn’t have an actual output on the events of the game, only the player’s experience.

Analysis: Though I haven’t had a chance to play the full game yet, I definitely would like to. The art and music were both the first thing I noticed. The flat, lineless art is very unique, with beautiful natural colors of fall. There are different palettes depending on where you go or what you’re doing in the game, though they all flow very nicely together. The music is very chill, though somewhat spooky, alluding to the slightly scary aspect of the game’s theme. The character design is also gorgeous and unique, making each one you interact with feel very life-like, despite the fact that they are all various anthropomorphic 2D drawings. It’s very easy to understand why the game received so much positive feedback. It’s a wonderful piece and I look forward to playing it myself.

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Name: Papo y Yo

Published: August 2012

Developer: Minority Media Inc.

Creator: Designed by Vander Caballero. Composed by Brain D’Olivera.

Publisher: Minority Media Inc.

Summary: Papo y Yo is a fantasy adventure puzzle game. You play as Quico, a young Brazilian boy who goes to an alternate-reality version of his favela in order to escape from his abusive alcoholic father. In the game, the character “monster” represents his father, who is usually docile, but will become aggressive and rampage after eating frogs (the fantasy world version of alcohol). Quico, along with his robot helper Lula and guide Alejandra help him in trying to find a cure for Monster’s addiction to frogs. There are also slow-motion cut scenes that reveal Quico’s memories of the past. In the end, Quico is unable to heal monster; instead he chooses to leave him behind.

Analysis: The game has incredible graphics, art, and music. Throughout the favela, there are many pieces of street art on the walls that were drawn by real Brazilian artists for the game. Their bright colors and graffiti like style add a wonderful splash of color and culture to the game. Additionally, the music is composed by Venezuelan raised Brian D’Oliveira. It uses rare Brazilian instruments, such as a Sarangi, African kora, Brazilian hunting whistles, ronroco, and other unique instruments that D’Oliveira made himself. The ambient, playful, samba-esque music gives the game an even stronger and deeper emotional feel that helps the player connect with the story line even more deeply. I was amazed at this game, never having seen such a sensitive subject handled in such a way, or at the forefront of a video game. Though the puzzle aspect didn’t seem to be very challenging in any way, the game was still very fun and beautiful.

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Name: FRU (https://futureofstorytelling.org/project/fru)

Published: July 2016

Developer: Through Games

Creator: Through Games

Publisher: Through Games

Summary: FRU is a puzzle game that features an innovative use of Microsoft Kinect, in which your silhouette becomes a "portal" between two worlds. Players solve puzzles by strategically positioning their body, combining physical interaction with traditional platforming.

Analysis: I’ve played a few Kinect games before, and was admittedly disappointed. Generally, problems arise from the fact that the Kinect is not very precise, making it difficult to use concise controls. FRU bypasses this issue by using the entire silhouette, not as a controller, but as a part of the platform. I was so impressed with how seamless the Kinect worked with the controls, and how inventive the idea was. Aside from the controls being impressive, the game also touted beautiful visuals and a great balance of difficulty. The coloring was vibrant and crisp, and the animation flowed beautifully with the movement across the game.

Name: Blind Vaysha VR (https://futureofstorytelling.org/project/blind-vaysha-vr)

Producer: Marc Bertrand

Director: Theodore Ushev

Writer: Theodore Ushev

Production Company: National Film Board of Canada

Summary: This short VR films allows viewers to make a visceral connection with Vaysha, a young girl born with a left eye that sees only the past and a right eye that sees only the future. Like a terrible curse, Vaysha’s split vision prevents her from inhabiting the present. Blinded by what was and tormented by what will be, she remains trapped between two irreconcilable temporalities. In this metaphoric tale of timeless wisdom and beauty, based on the eponymous short story by Georgi Gospodinov, filmmaker Theodore Ushev reminds us of the importance of keeping our sights on the present moment.

Analysis: This stunning short film used VR in an interesting way. Rather than using the capability of viewers to look around, it made use of the split-screen VR, projecting one image to the left eye and a different one to the right. Though it was originally a written story, the split screen visuals took it to the next level. The art style is also beautiful, resembling closely the linocut printmaking style. They also use warm, earthy colors to help set the story in the old town. I was very impressed with the unique storyline and execution, and would definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn’t seen it.

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• Name of Game: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (ACNL) • Date Game published: June 9, 2013 (US) • Developer/s of Game: Nintendo EAD • Creator/s of Game: Produced by Katsuya Eguchi. Directed by Isao Moro and Aya Kyogoku. Written by Makoto Wada. • Publisher of Game: Nintendo • History of Game: The first Animal Crossing game was originally released in Japan for the Nintendo 64 in 2001. Later that same year, it was improved and released on the GameCube. It was released in North America in 2002. The gameplay is very similar to New Leaf, though with less features and a simpler art style. The second game, Animal Crossing: Wild World, released in 2005 for the Nintendo DS and Wii U. Though again with the same format, it allowed for more customization than its predecessor. Also unlike the original, which had a top down perspective, Wild World allows both the ground and sky to be seen at the same time, using a “rolling log” effect. It also was the first to feature online connectivity. The 3rd game, Animal Crossing: City Folk, was released in 2008. New features include housing organization, pro designs, villager capacity of 10, and more shops. There is a city feature which the player can take a bus to get to. All 4 games received positive worldwide attention, leading New Leaf to become the first game in Japan to pass 2 million units sold, done in just under 2 months. • Brief summary: Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the 4th game in the Animal Crossing series. The games are all simulation slice-of-life video games (made for Nintendo consoles, especially the Nintendo DS) in which the player lives in a town populated by anthropomorphic animal villagers. In New Leaf, the player’s is given the role as the mayor of the town. The player plays through the game as they explore their town, interact with villagers, and participate in varied activities such as fishing, bug catching, or trading and selling items. The game has a very wide variety of items, most of which are furniture/decorative, plants, or clothing. Some items may come in sets, or are rarer and harder to find. The game allows for a great deal of customizability; as the mayor, the player is allowed to decorate their town and character through publics works projects, certain building placement, planting and landscaping, interior decoration. Items may be traded with other villagers, other players, or bought through the store using bells, the in game currency. The game has over 300 different possible villagers that may move into your town, but only 10 can live in it at a time. The game is also noted for it’s very calming and uplifting soundtrack, which changes with each hour, also depending on the weather. Other unique features include animal voices, custom art QRs, amiibo support, real-time calendar with seasons, and more. • My Opinion: I love Animal Crossing because of it’s relaxing nature. Because of its heavily customizable setup, I’m able to have fun making everything about my town beautiful, as well as having fun with designs, talking to villagers, or playing in the towns of my friends through online connection. The scripting is also entertaining and extensive, making interactions with villagers much more entertaining. The game, though fairly straightforward in concept, has a lot of different niche activities for players to do, depending on what they like. It’s a fantastic way to relax and have fun. • Dream Suite Address: i. Alma: 7D00-002E-2EE2 (Cool tropical themed town) ii. Nowhere: 4B00-008A-F6F5 (pretty town) iii. Nordale: 6B00-002F-2BFC (winter night town) • Intro Play-through: https://youtu.be/TOFInIomMpM?t=1m4s

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Name: Final Fantasy XV Published: November 29, 2016 Developer: Square Enix Creator: Directed by Hajime Tabata. Produced by Shinji Hashimoto. Publisher: Square Enix Summary: Final Fantasy XV (or Final Fantasy 15) is the 15th main installment in the Final Fantasy series. It takes place in the world of Eos, and stars a young prince named Noctis. He is accompanied by four friends on his journey, which is ultimately to retake his homeland and its magical Crystal after it was captured by Niflheim on the eve of peace negotiations. The game features a vast open world environment, giving players a lot of time to play, go on side quests, and explore. Analysis: As someone who has never played any Final Fantasy games before, it was kind of hard to wrap my head around what was happening. Because of the open world setup, it wasn’t always clear what was happening. Though the level of detail was impressive, it was also sometimes a little bit comical, such as when Noctis would jump or sprint. The dialogue and music were also a little goofy sometimes. However, the game seemed to be incredibly in depth, allowing for hours of fun. I’m sure that if I had a history with the franchise, I would be able to enjoy it more, but even so, it was definitely entertaining to watch.

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•Child of light is a game that was published in April 2014 by Ubisoft. Though the game had a very “indie” feel, it was developed and created by Ubisoft entirely. It is a role playing platforming game that takes place in the mystical world of Lemuria. Aurora, who awakens in Lemuria after dying in the real world, is put on a quest to return the sun, moon, and stars to the world, stolen by the Queen of Night, so that she can return home. There are several unique aspect of the game. Firstly, the dialogue is spoken in rhyme. This adds to the childlike, storybook feel of the game, helping it feel a bit more mystical and fun. The music also contributes to this; it is instrumental classical, ranging from simple piano pieces to full blown orchestral ensembles for boss fights. The art style uses a watercolor-like texture throughout to further push the fairytale storybook feel, very 19th century-esque. There is often “bleeding” texturing happening along with this, which enhances the magical feel of the game. All of the scenery is very detailed and colorful, but also soft and dreamlike. One last notable feature is the combat system. It is turn based, but the turns are determined by a moving “wait/cast” bar, in which the player must decide whether it is a good time to attack, cast, or defend against enemies. This allows for more complex and exciting fights.

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Games: i. Left 4 Dead ii. Team Fortress 2 iii. Portal 2

Dates: i. November 2008 ii. October 2007 iii. April 2011

Publisher: i. Valve Co.

Creators: i. Designed by Mike Booth, written by Chet Faliszek ii. Designed by John Cook & Robin Walker iii. Directed by Joshua Weier, produced by Gabe Newell, written by Erik Wolpaw & Jay Pinkerton & Chet Faliszek

Summary of Games: i. Left 4 Dead is a first person shooter with online and cooperative/multiplayer elements. It is a horror/survival game in which players must play against zombie hordes in an attempt to survive. ii. Team Fortress 2 is a team-based multiplayer first person shooter. Rather than following any narrative, players play in rounds in which they choose one of two teams (RED or BLU), and then select one of nine character classes to play as. Types of game modes include capture the flag, king of the hill, and others. iii. Portal 2 is a first person puzzle platform game, in which the main mechanic is the player’s portal gun that allows them to form two connected portals on flat surfaces. The player-character, Chell, is trapped in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, a massive underground labyrinth that is controlled by the AI antagonist, GLaDOS. There is also a multiplayer mode in which players play as two Robots, one with a blue portal and one with the orange portal.

Summary of Comics: i. The first comic, “The Sacrifice,” revolves around the characters from L4D. They escape a zombie horde and are taken what they thought was a safe zone. Instead, it turns out to be a military base, where they are being held in quarantine because they are immune carriers to the zombie virus. Before anything happens to them, the base is thrown into chaos and they escape the zombie hordes by train. They flee to a boat, where the character Bill sacrifices himself to raise the drawbridge so they can escape. ii. The Team Fortress 2 section features snippets of comics and articles. Some of the narrative based comics revolve around character interactions or behind-the-scenes NPCs, such as the Administrator, Miss Pauling, Red Mann and Blu Mann, and Saxton Hale. Other pages include fake advertisements for in-game weapons, such as Jarate, the Dead Ringer, and the Cloak and Dagger. Though the comics here are only snippets, they humorously reveal the personalities of the game’s characters. iii. The Portal 2 comic offers a bridge between the events of the original Portal game and Portal 2. It follows Aperture Science lab worker Doug Rattmann, who survives the murder rampage of GLaDOS. He secretly watches over Chell as she is tested by GLaDOS, and later is able to save her by repairing her support systems. 

Review i. The L4D comic was very well made. Action packed, funny, and with a gripping narrative, it takes place after the end of the “Blood Harvest” campaign, but before the first installment of the DLC. Even though I have never played the game, I felt I was able to understand the characters and the world very well due to the excellent writing and scripting of the characters. I was also able to get a glimpse of the in-game world, the adversaries, and the challenges that are faced by the characters. Though it was sometimes a little difficult to follow because of the action-heavy sequences unfamiliar content, I still enjoyed it thoroughly. ii. As someone who has played TF2 and is familiar with many of their online comics, I thought this section was the most enjoyable. The humor is fun and delivered well, playing perfectly off of the rich yet simplistic character design. Though the character designs of TF2 are not incredibly ornate, they are very well developed and concise, making it easy to understand and enjoy each comic. The art style also works well here, especially with the “vintage” faux advertisements. iii. Though I have also played both Portal and Portal II, I had never actually read this comic. It was interesting to read about what had happened behind the scenes between the two games. Though there was a touch of light humor throughout the game, this comic was more focused on backstory and action. For me, the most gripping element of the comic was the unique art styles, going back and forth between a more normal style and a very flashy and rough style. It helped to convey the experience of Doug as he operated in the hellish and terrifying landscape of the aperture laboratories.

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Frida Kahlo is well known in modern society for her unique and “surrealist” self portraits. Her work is complex and rich in symbolic imagery. Many people today simply know her as the woman painter with the unibrow, a symbol against traditional western beauty. However, her own life is much more rich and beautiful than being solely a feminist icon. As a child, she was left disabled by polio, and at the age of 18 was seriously injured in a car accident that left her with chronic pain and medical issues for the rest of her life. She spent a lot of time bedridden after accident, and thus took up painting as a means to spend her free time.

Frida was also an activist, being involved in the Mexican Communist Party. Through both her artwork and her political stance, she was introduced to muralist Diego River, whom she later married. The relationship was known for being very volatile, with both having affairs with women outside of the relationship. Though earlier on she was known more as Rivera’s wife, her work garnered enough popularity for her to be recognized as a prominent artist in her own right for several years before her death.

Even in the time up until her death, Frida was a true activist. Despite her quickly declining state of health, she managed to show for political events and supported her cause until the very end. She had a diary in which she often wrote about her extensive suffering, both physical and mental. This suffering was reflected in all of her work, and can be felt acutely when viewing it. Her complex identity and ideas must all be taken into account when we consider her work so that we can draw a greater and truer meaning from it.

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“Nothing & Everything: 7 Artists” was a recent show by the Hauser & Wirth Gallery on 69th street. This collection was heavily connected to music, specifically American avant-garde composers, music theory, and abstract expressionism. The 7 titular artists are Louise Bourgeois, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, and David Smith. These seven had come together in coalition before to push the limits of abstraction in art. The works are all from 1947-1962.

The first thing viewers experience is a recording of John Cage’s work, a reading of his “Lecture on Nothing”.  The talk has no clear narrative, assorted words and phrases are broken by periods of silence. It is evocative of his famous work from 1952, composition ‘4’33”’, in which he and an orchestra in the venue of Maverick Concert Hall, sat in total silence for its entirety. The concert hall is located in Woodstock, and draws the attention of the listeners towards the backdrop of naturally occurring sounds around them. Cage himself was an American composer and a prominent figure of the post-war avant-garde scene. He was born in Los Angles in 1912, and grew up there, taking piano lessons from a young age. He enrolled in Pomona College in Claremont as a theology major, and was introduced to many prominent artists at the time, such as Marcel Duchamp and James Joyce. He later dropped out because he believed college was not useful to his interests. Many of these experiences are what led him to rise up as a prominent figure in American culture.

Later, Cage became good friends with artist Morton Feldman. The two connected with Philip Guston, and together they exchanged ideas about abstraction, leading further into the abstraction movements of the post-war era. In the studio, they are quoted in having an exchange over one of their incredibly minimalist abstractions, in which Cage said “My God! Isn’t it marvelous that one can paint a picture about nothing!” to which Feldman replied, “But John, it’s about everything!”

This dialogue is central to the exhibition. Is “nothing” something? Is it everything? Can it even truly exist?

In the other visual works that followed, artists explored ideas such as vulnerability, silence, isolation, and more. The pieces, though visually different, are all connected by this sense of nothingness through abstraction.

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Westworld is a paragon of a modern “tour de force.” Everything from plot, acting, special effects, writing, music, character design, world building, and everything else in between, was perfect. Never a boring episode, the story weaves a complicated tale of a theme park where guests can “Experience the first vacation destination where you can live without limits. Westworld is a meticulously crafted and artfully designed park offering an unparalleled, immersive world where you have the freedom to become who you’ve always wanted to be—or who you never knew you were. Exist free of rules, laws or judgment. No impulse is taboo. Our hosts are here to fulfill your every desire. They look forward to serving you.” The hosts, as they are called, are extremely advanced AI robots. The rich sci-fi story offers a perspective about the possible outcomes of what could happen, should humans create AI more intelligent than themselves. 

AI itself is an incredibly hot topic right now. More and more machines and codes are able to produce AI that is able to pass the Turing test. Many other shows, including Black Mirror, Battlestar Gallactica, Mr. Robot, and Humans, have explored the possibilities of a world with AI technologies. Many of them tend to be less than optimistic, as we quite clearly see in the season 1 finale of Westworld. A large part of the speculative weakness revolves around the ability to control them: they could either go haywire and become uncontrollable, or could be hacked and used for more nefarious purposes and schemes. 

Special effects played a part in making the human actors who played the hosts appear more robotic. One notable one was the retired host, “Old Bill,” who was a first generation robot. His movements were incredibly robotic, like an animatronic at Disneyland. VFX supervisor Jay Worth talks about how they used special effects to subtly alter his movements, such as blinking and jerking motions. They used programs like Nuke in order to turn complex human movements into a series of small, robotic movements. They often did similar, but much subtler, things with other characters during malfunctions.

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Mark Dion is a conceptual artist, largely known for his use of scientific themes in his work. He studied art at the Hartford Art School in Connecticut, and was awarded an honorary doctorate later in 2003. He often creates installation-type works as opposed to traditional mediums, making it easier to integrate different fields of study into his work. However, he does also do 2D works including sketches and prints. 

Dion claims that his work is in no way created for the pleasure of the viewer. Many artists who say this may also be interesting in doing just the opposite: surprising, upsetting, or challenging the viewer may be more interesting to them. However, Mark claim’s that his goal is often more interested in challenging perceptions and norms. He seeks to critique 21st century culture in interesting ways, sometimes through fields not directly related art, such as science and archaeology. This is visible through his “Cabinets of Curiosities” project, which borrows many thematic ideas from the arts, sciences, and academia. 

Some of his other works reflect his interdisciplinary interests. His “Phantom Museum Wonder Workshop” had central themes relating to this, specifically metamorphosis. He was interested in the process of creating artworks. He hopes audiences will think critically about how general knowledge of nature, science, and history is built and presented to us. Art and design, after all, are intrinsic to how information is presented to us.

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The NYU Grey Art Gallery’s current exhibition, “Inventing Downtown,” explores the cultural rising of artist-run galleries in NYC through selected works from artists in that movement. One artist, Louise Bourgeois, had work featured from the Tanager Gallery, from the “Leaving Midtown” thematic group.

Louise Bourgeois was born in Paris in the early 1900s. She became drawn to art by her parents, who ran a tapestry restoration business. She moved to New York in 1938 after marrying Robert Goldwater. While her early work focused more on painting and printmaking, she turned to sculpture in the late 1940s. She also became very interested in psychoanalysis, which influenced the subject matter of her work. Her monumental spider sculptures are some of her best known works.

Also from the Tanager Gallery is artist Lois Dodd. She was the only woman founder of the gallery, but also had her work exhibited there. She was born in New Jersey in the late 20s, and was educated at Cooper Union. She is described as a “serious painter,” best known for her beautiful and contemplative landscapes and interiors around her New England homes. She paints “plein air,” meaning her paintings are done all outside, from observation; it is a difficult strategy due to the ever changing lighting and movement of the outdoors. Her work contrasted with the popular abstract expressionism of the time.

From the “City as Muse” grouping, we see work from Robert Rauschenberg, whose work was featured at the Reuben Gallery. This gallery was not under the co-op model. Though he was born in Texas, Robert lived and worked primarily in New York City and in Florida. He was a painter and graphic artist, whose early works anticipated the pop art movement. He often used non traditional materials and objects in his works, employed in innovative ways. His well known “Combines” are a sort of combination of painting and sculpture, and somewhat like a collage. He went on to receive several rewards for his artistry during his life.

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Like a tiny museum, or a tiny encyclopedia, these cabinets seem to fit in anywhere but offer so much to a space. Perhaps an ideal space for a collector, as their presentation is dynamic and engaging, yet not overwhelming. They offer themselves to anyone willing to see them. They often house collections that are pertaining not only to the arts, but to many areas of science including geology, archaeology, biology, and more. It has the ability to enlighten, to educate, or to decorate a space. As stated in wikipedia’s article, some were used to show off one’s wealth, and featured rare, exotic, or beautiful collections. Others served more scholarly purposes, and were collections of the various items that were relevant to the collector. In contemporary culture, these cabinets establish themselves in many ways. Some are found in museums. Some specific spaces which function in similar ways may be interpreted as a modern cabinet, such as the “House on the Rock” in Spring Green, WI. Some online bloggers may describe their sites as cabinets of curiosities due to their collective nature which resembles the traditional forms.

My father’s antique game collection could likely fall into the category of cabinets of curiosity. We have many cabinets and bookshelves that are filled with these antique games, of which there are easily over 100. They range from tiddlywinks to backgammon, with many forgotten titles in between. They come in various shapes and sizes, each adding a unique flare to the space they inhabit, all while preserving and displaying the subjects.

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The Whitney’s recent exhibition, titled Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, would definitely be one of the most unique exhibitions I’ve ever seen. Because of my upbringing in internet culture, I actually recognized a lot of the content. However, the presentation of it was unlike anything I had seen before. A lot of the imagery that was present there tends to find itself on the “shitpost” side of the internet. Here, however, they were presented as the unique products of our modern culture, soon-to-be relics of the 21st century.

There were several works that stood out to me. The first was Mathias Polenda’s Imitation of Life. The two-minute film was hand animated; every frame drawn and painted by hand, in the same way that old Disney films were. It was accompanied by a 30’s style cover, performed by an entire orchestra, to further evoke that “old Disney” style. The short narrative follows a cute, anthropomorphic donkey in a sailor outfit, singing in a forest. Little forest creatures sing along, giving the piece a pleasant, fantasy-like mood. Using outdated production methods, period recording devices, and 20th century tropes, Polenda creates a work which conflates past and present to create a new dialogue.

Another breathtaking work was Hito Steyerl’s Factory of the Sun. The immersive film, set in a dark room with a blue LED grid lining each surface, tells a surreal story of workers in a factory making sunshine. It crosses between appearing like a documentary, a news report, a videogame, and other various internet formats. I recognized some of the content used, such as the dancing “MMD” figures. Much of it almost felt like a somewhat outsider perspective, someone discovering the strange “shitposting” side of the internet, being fascinated by it, and subsequently turning it into art. However, I don’t believe that method invalidates the integrity of the art; even though there is a lot of similar content online, Steyerl took an entirely different perspective on it, changing the role of it completely.

Much of this exhibition almost felt like a strange dream to me. To be immersed in this content that I was so familiar with in a totally different way has altered how I think about my own world. I take most of the content I find online for granted, as it has always been present for me. Now I feel that, because of this exhibit, I will end up thinking more critically about the material that fills my facebook feed from now on.

[ucaliptus]

“Hidden Figures” is a film based off of the little-know, but incredibly important, true story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. It documents their work at NASA, where they helped launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit during the Space Race. Their stance as African American women is what made their achievements so remarkable. In a world where women and people of color were (and still are) so negatively stigmatized, to be able to go above and beyond in that line of work set a new precedent for marginalized people everywhere. There is a lot to look forward to with this film.

Another story that has gone too untold is that of Grace Hopper, a greatly influential computer programmer in the 1900s. She did amazing work on the Harvard Mark I computer, used in the effort during World War II. She also invented the first compiler for a computer programming language, and also lead to the development of programming languages that were designed to be understood by computers, rather than by people. These are just a small handful of her major accomplishments, the effects of which are still relevant in todays world of computer programming. The steps she took towards understanding computer programming were necessary and indispensable. I myself have taken several computer classes in high school, yet I had never heard her name before. Women in STEM are making incredible progress, yet nobody is giving them half the attention that other men receive. Thankfully, films such as “Hidden Figures” are coming to the forefront of our media to make sure that we do hear their stories, and are aware of their contributions to our society.