To coincide with her current solo exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image and the online release of “The Game: The Game,” Professor Angela Washko will discuss the multi-year research process behind her pick-up artist dating simulator. In addition to walking the audience through her research, Washko will screen excerpts from her interview with a seduction coach who has been dubbed “The Web’s Most Infamous Misogynist” and highlight instructional DVDs, books, and hidden-camera videos created by a community of pick-up artists who teach men how to interact with and seduce women. The talk will close with a participatory play-through of “The Game: The Game” facilitated by the artist.

“The Game: The Game” is a video game presenting the practices of several prominent seduction coaches (aka pick-up artists) through the format of a dating simulator. In the game these pick-up gurus attempt to seduce the player using their signature techniques taken verbatim from their instructional books and video materials. The game sets up the opportunity for players to explore the complexity of the construction of social behaviors around dating as well as the experience of being a femme-presenting individual navigating this complicated terrain.