Text by Melanie Swalwell, Design and Programming by Erik Loyer
Cast-offs from the Golden Age invites the user to adopt the position of the researcher, unearthing the local histories of videogaming in New Zealand by exploring a 3D space in which inquiries, interviews, dead ends and historical artifacts are enacted and explored. A collaboration with scholar Melanie Swalwell.
Electrofringe, This is Not Art Festival, Newcastle, Australia
Users find themselves in a 3D environment in which they can lay down “avenues of inquiry” retracing Swalwell’s investigations into the history of gaming in New Zealand.
Intersections between avenues of inquiry can present unexpected opportunities for insight as characters “speak” to the user about their experiences in the industry.
A brief demonstration of the project is presented below.
The more the user learns about a particular avenue of inquiry, the higher the sun at its vanishing point rises in the sky.
Certain interactions result in bits of ephemera being added to the user’s collection, as with this Atari 2600 advertisement.