The Incredible Playable Podcast

Homunculus

Alistair goes on a search for artificial life.

 

My own work cited:

The Incredible Playable Show - http://playable.show

The Book Ritual - https://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/thebookritual.html

Homunculus - https://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/homunculus.html

 

Links from the episode:

Jelle's Marble Runs - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJdpnjuSWVOLgGT9fIzL0g

Rustle Your Leaves to Me Softly - https://tag.hexagram.ca/games/rustle-leaves-softly/

Most Sincere Greetings Esteemed One - https://globalgamejam.org/2016/games/most-sincere-greetings-esteemed-one

IndieCade interview with Jess Marcotte and Dietrich "Squinky" Squinkifer - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/973387784

 

Music credits:

Clair De Lune variations by Poddington Bear - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Clair_De_Lune_Variations/

Used under Creative Commons Non-Commercial 3.0 Licence

Restless Dreams by Myuu - https://soundcloud.com/myuu/restless-dreams

Used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence

Chopin Prelude in E Minor by Porticodoro / SmartCGArt Media Productions - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FChopinPreludeOp28n4.OGG

Used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence

Claire de Lune by Laurens Goedhart - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clair_de_lune_(Claude_Debussy)_Suite_bergamasque.ogg

Used under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licence

Finger 2000

What connects surrealist artist Man Ray to the hacked game emulator that Alistair has been working on? The only way to find out is to tune in and listen.

 

Bon appetit!

 

Or at least the audio equivalent of bon appetit. Bon écoutage?

 

My own work cited:

Alistair's Magic Box (the hackable emulator): https://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/magicbox.html

My Twitch channel (where audiences play with the hacked emulator with me as their guinea pig): https://www.twitch.tv/agaitcheson

Video - playing Sonic the Hedgehog with random controls (2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DnHXv__NjY

Video - playing Sonic the Hedgehog with glitches and friends (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwj1XTB0nlE

 

Links from the episode:

Surrealism at Play - Susan Laxton: https://www.dukeupress.edu/surrealism-at-play

A Google search for Rayographs: https://www.google.com/search?q=rayographs

 

Music credits:

Kevin McCloud: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Classical_Sampler (Creative Commons Attribution licence)

Kai Engel: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/ (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence)

Lee Maddeford: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Maddeford/Instrumentals_1/ (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence)

University Challenge

Alistair turns his spyglass of playfulness towards TV quiz show University Challenge: a show whose main gimmick is that the questions are really really hard.

 

He explores the emergent design of these super-difficult questions, and his own experience trying to re-interpret the show as a playful video challenge. Then, he points his ludolicious lens towards games in the art world, to see how artists have approached the same idea: using games to generate art.

 

Follow Alistair on Twitch for unusual audience-led performances or take a look at his past experiments: https://www.twitch.tv/agaitcheson/videos?filter=highlights&sort=time

 

My own work cited:

Getting a Perfect Score in University Challenge (YouTube video) https://youtu.be/PHtcKsAy2gQ

The co-operative Sonic the Hedgehog controller: https://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/megacooperator.html

 

Links from the episode:

Exquisite Corpse(Wikipedia entry) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse

ioq3aPaint - Julian Oliver: https://julianoliver.com/output/ioq3aPaint.html

Super Mario Clouds - Cory Arcangel: https://coryarcangel.com/things-i-made/2002-001-super-mario-clouds

Beat the Champ - Cory Arcangel: https://coryarcangel.com/shows/beat-the-champ/

SOD - JODI: https://www.leonardo.info/gallery/gallery351/jodi.html

Works of Game by John Sharp: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/works-game

 

Music credits:

Kevin McCloud: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Classical_Sampler (Creative Commons Attribution licence)

Kai Engel: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/ (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence)

Lee Maddeford: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Maddeford/Instrumentals_1/ (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence)

Yoko Ono's Chess Set

Alistair looks at chessboards created as interactive art pieces, and relates them to his own experiences making interactive art and performance from chess.

 

Tune in for Takako Saito's smellable chess pieces, Horses Running Endlessly, an egg becoming God, and of course Yoko Ono's chess set where all the pieces are white.

 

Links from the episode:

Holly Gramazio - How Not to Play: https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/XeEL6REAAB8AtgaS

The Museum of Modern Art's blog on All White Chess Set: https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2015/07/14/notes-on-yoko-onos-white-chess-set/

Critical Play by Mary Flanagan: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/critical-play

Now Play This, an annual games festival: https://nowplaythis.net/nptathome2020/

Critical Distance is my go-to source of games reading, mentioned in the episode: https://www.critical-distance.com/

 

My own work cited:

Pawns: https://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/pawns.html

Playing Pawns against Twitch Chat: https://youtu.be/G-nXU3T5zuc

Playing Pawns against Twitch Chat for Now Play This: https://youtu.be/2GlQ2K6Vv20

Codex Bash: https://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/codexbash.html

 

Music credits:

Kevin McCloud: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Classical_Sampler (Creative Commons Attribution licence)

Kai Engel: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai_Engel/ (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence)

Lee Maddeford: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Maddeford/Instrumentals_1/ (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence)

 

Clowns, Humility and Games for the Stage

Looking through the book Clowns: In Conversation with Modern Masters and reflecting on how the experiences of the clowns in the book have reflected my own creative processes.

This first episode focuses on a theme of humility, and how it's affected the design of the games in my interactive stage show.

And, for you to play along with at home, a surprising altercation with food!

Music source: Steven O'Brien - http://www.steven-obrien.net/
(CC Attribution)