Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start

May 17–July 19, 2013
Venue: SPACES, Cleveland, OH
Participating artist(s): 0100101110101101.org (Eva and Franco Mattes), Pippin Barr, Wafaa Bilal, Mary Flanagan, Knut Hybinette, Molleindustria (a.k.a. Paolo Pedercini), and Dana Sperry
Publication: Gallery Booklet
Molleindustria (a.k.a. Paolo Pedercini), Faith Fighter, 2008, Video game
Molleindustria (a.k.a. Paolo Pedercini)
Faith Fighter, 2008
Video game (still)

Performance art is often thought to center around the artist’s body—improvising within parameters or working through a set of directions. What happens when the physical is eliminated or intentionally ignored in favor of a virtual experience. Does the physicality of a performance translate? Does it need to?

Video games manage to straddle the line between the physical and the virtual—set the stage for a dual performance of the player’s subtle physical dance of fingers across a controller and the pixelated movements of digital bodies.

Pippin Barr, The Artist is Present, 2012, Video game (stills)
Pippin Barr
The Artist is Present, 2012
Video game (stills)

Following similar avenues as traditional performance art, video games set up a framework for acting and improvising. Players can work within these programmed parameters or some have elected to hack games and gaming platforms to set their own rules.

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start1 highlighted the actions of artists, programmers and players who choreograph their own performances—including including the players. From classic console games, to artist-created worlds, these works invite viewers to see virtual and real worlds in a new light and hopefully with a little more performance.

Mary Flanagan, [borders: chichen itza], 2010, video (still)
Mary Flanagan
[borders: chichen itza], 2010
Video (still)
Wafaa Bila,l Virtual Jihadi, 2008, video game
Wafaa Bilal
Virtual Jihadi, 2008
Video game (still)
Eva and Franco Mattes a.k.a. 0100101110101101.org, Reenactments, 2009–10, Video documentation of performances
Eva and Franco Mattes a.k.a. 0100101110101101.org
Reenactments, 2009–10
Video documentation of performances
Eva and Franco Mattes a.k.a. 0100101110101101.org, Synthetic Performances, 2009–10, Video documentation of performances
Eva and Franco Mattes a.k.a. 0100101110101101.org
Synthetic Performances, 2009–10
Video documentation of performances
Wafaa Bilal, Domestic Tension: Day 30, 2007, Documentation of interactive performance, installation view
Wafaa Bilal
Domestic Tension: Day 30, 2007
Documentation of interactive performance
Installation view
Paolo Pedercini, Welcome to the Desert of the Real, 2011, Machinima (still), installation view
Paolo Pedercini
Welcome to the Desert of the Real, 2011
Machinima (still)
Installation view
Dana Sperry, First Person Shooter or New Rider of the Apocalypse, 2006, video, installation view
Dana Sperry
First Person Shooter or New Rider of the Apocalypse, 2006
Video (still)
Installation view
Arcade units playing various video games, installation view
Arcade units playing various video games, installation view
Image at top: Dana Sperry
First Person Shooter or New Rider of the Apocalypse, 2006
Video
  1. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start, also known as the “Konami Code,” is a cheat code for some video games that allows players to immediately gain hundreds of lives or unlock “Easter eggs”—special surprises or hidden game modes. [Back]