GRAND researcher Lynn Hughes along with GRAND postdoc Cindy Poremba and long time collaborator, game designer Heather Kelley, have curated Joue Le Jeu / Play Along, an exhibition at the Gaîté Lyrique in Paris, drawing rave reviews from participants and the media.
The show has transformed the Gaîté Lyrique into an immense playground. In using the venue's stunning new spaces where architecture goes hand in hand with technology, Joue Le Jeu / Play Along has created conversations between bodies, the space around them and virtual worlds.
The completely playable exhibition is one of the first to present current game development and research as a richly diverse and creatively innovative culture. It showcases innovation in games – but with an emphasis on new approaches to aesthetics, narrative and gameplay mechanics. Joue Le Jeu / Play Along insists on the cultural centrality of games within digital culture and on connections to both more traditional (non-digital) game culture and to ludic interactive art environments.
During the opening night, Propinquity, a game created by GRAND researchers Lynn Hughes and Bart Simon in collaboration with the Modern Nomads, was featured (see the full Propinquity project description on the PlayPR site). Propinquity is a game focused on the body rather than the screen, and is designed to evoke both dancing and fighting games. It focuses on full body interaction and the use of sound and game play mechanics to produce an intensely social and physical experience.
Better yet, if in Paris be sure to visit Joue le jeu / Play Along; the show runs June 20 to August 12 at the Gaîté Lyrique.