Professor Paolo Pedercini’s LikeLike Profiled in Art in America

Posted on July 26, 2018

For Art in America, Desi Gonzalez wrote a feature on Paolo Pedercini’s space for independent games and playable arts, LikeLike.

She writes, “Since opening in February, LikeLike’s output has been prodigious, presenting a new show each month. Billed as a ‘neoarcade,’ the gallery typically presents themed shows.

“Pittsburgh makes a good home for an independent game gallery. The art scene is small, the real estate is affordable, and Carnegie Mellon’s location nearby ensures healthy communities of new media artists, game developers, and engineers. One of Pedercini’s motives in launching LikeLike was to bring practitioners of these various disciplines together. His favorite kind of visitor, however, isn’t a game enthusiast. ‘I like watching a middle-aged couple grab a video game controller for the first time,’ Pedercini said. ‘It’s as if the first film you ever watched was a Werner Herzog.’ At a time when games are commodified as high-budget endeavors—from AAA video games to escape rooms—the small, DIY space of LikeLike provides an alternative point of entry to play.”

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