Professors Paolo Pedercini and Angela Washko have work included in the exhibition “Play Society: Wolf, Lynx, and Ants” at the Hyundai Motor Studio in Beijing, China. The exhibition is on view June 16 through August 16.
“Play Societies: Wolves, Lynx and Ants” is a narrative exhibition project with three allegories: “Steppenwolf on the info superhighway,” “The lynx refuge island,” and “The ants arcade”. Using these three animals as prototypes of human society in different stages of development in media technology, it reveals the contradiction between network society and individual situations. The exhibition would like to explore what is true “social intelligence” and whether there is a “pan-intelligence” that combines human intelligence, animal intelligence and artificial intelligence.
By using “play” as an action and medium, the first and second part of the exhibition traces the myths of technology since the era of Info Superhighway. Then it examines the impact of information technology on the relationship between network society and individuals in the era of Social Media. In the last part of exhibition, the artist will reflect on the play scene—by revising the game rules, using alternative and sharing technologies, intervening everyday life and working spaces with group consciousness and collaboration, which in turn set off the conversation intended by this exhibition.
For the exhibition, Pedercini presents “Three Sided Football Arcade,” the first videogame adaptation of the namesake sport. The original 3 Sided Football was conceived by Danish Situationist Asger Jorn in 1964. The soccer variant was meant to explain the concept of Triolectics, a general model of interpretation that could take into account fluid alliances, betrayals and collaborations beyond rigid binary conflicts. The sport was rediscovered and occasionally put into practice by artists and neo-situationists in the ’90s. Today there are a few clubs and tournaments dedicated to 3SF.
Washko shows her feminist video game “The Game: The Game” in this exhibition. Washko. The project presents an exploration of consent and the politics, tactics and practices of the male pick-up artist and seduction communities. Through the format of a dating simulator, players experience the practices of several infamous seduction coaches (aka pick-up artists). In the game, these pick-up gurus attempt to seduce the player using their signature techniques taken directly from their instruction and videos materials. By pitting players against six prominent seduction coaches who are vying for their attention at a bar, the game provides them with the opportunity 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 and often dangerous terrain. It is accompanied by a musical score thoughtfully composed by Xiu Xiu. In this exhibition it is installed with a custom wallpaper designed by the artist.