Two of the independent video games Kenta Cho's Noiz2sa and Julian Oliver's 2nd Person Shooter are both shooters. Kenta Cho's Noiz2sa is a retro shoot 'em up while Oliver's is a a wry riff on First person Shooters. Oliver's game-demo places the gamer behind the eyes of a murderous bot over which they have no control and which is set on destroying them. Players are not only hunted, but also have to quickly adopt a new logic for operating where their perspective is no longer attached to their body, the customary instrument of their will.

Title: Truck Dismount / Artist: Jetro Lauha, Title: Second Person Shooter Missing in Action / Artist: Julian Oliver, Title: Noiz2sa / Artist: Kenta Cho, Title: Façade / Artist: Michael Mateas, Andrew Stern

Jetro Lauha’s Truck Dismount presents us with a simple 3 dimensional world including a truck, some ramps, a wall and a crash test dummy called DJ. An example of physics gaming, which use physical interactions as their primary basis, Truck Dismount examines the guilty pleasures of trangressive behaviour.

Façade is an artificial intelligence-based art/research experiment in electronic narrative. Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern have fused the hyperlink with the one act drama to engineer a novel architecture for supporting emotional and interactive character behaviour.

Tale of Tale’s Endless Forest and Furtherfield.org's VisitorsStudio use the Internet as a networked, platform for real-time, collaborative play and online performance and they provide connecting spaces between audiences at HTTP & Q Arts galleries. VisitorsStudio is an online arena for real-time, multi-user mixing, networked performance and play. Endless Forest described by the artists as a “social screensaver”, audiences join other players, in real-time down-time to inhabit the bodies of deer, roaming in a lush virtual landscape.

Game/Play is a collaboration between Q-Arts, Derby and HTTP, London that explores goal-orientated gaming and playful interaction through media arts practice.

From 22 July to 3 September, HTTP presents a new commission [giantJoystick] by American 'girl gamer' Mary Flanagan, independently produced video games selected by curator Corrado Morgana for their divergence from commercial game-types and online participatory artworks by Tale of Tales and Furtherfield.org.

The works exhibited at Q Arts from 22 July to 10 September create spaces for socio-dramatic play through physical action and response. Q Arts has commissioned artists such as Simon Poulter and Low Brow Trash to create socially engaged art games, which will be presented alongside games created for the commercial industry.

Links
http://www.game-play.org.uk
http://www.http.uk.net
http://www.q-arts.co.uk/

Launch and tour
Game/Play opens at a simultaneous launch event at Q Arts and HTTP galleries. Enjoy the Ermajello performance of Plankton at Q Arts, test drive Mary Flanagan's [giantJoystick] at HTTP, view the works and connect and collaborate with visitors in both galleries in the online, multiuser spaces of Furtherfield's VisitorsStudio and Endless Forest by Tale of Tales. Game/Play will tour as a combined exhibition from September 2006 - January 2008 with a series of online events.

21 July 6.30pm – 8.30pm Q Arts – Gallery
35/36 Queen Street, Derby, DE1 3DS

22 July 7pm – 9pm
HTTP, London
Unit A2, Arena Business Centre,
71 Ashfield Rd, London N4 1NY

Online events and workshops
A series of online events, performances and workshops will create opportunities for more directed interaction between gallery visitors and remote audiences at Q-Arts and HTTP between July and September 2006. Visit http://www.game-play.org.uk for full details.

The team
The team behind the project is Giles Askham (curator and coordinator), Corrado Morgana (independent curator), Louise Clements (Q Arts), Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett (HTTP). Game/Play is funded by Arts Council England and Awards For All.

About HTTP
HTTP [House of Technologically Termed Praxis]’s main remit is to offer a physical interface to networked art projects thus creating a social space in which people can interact with artworks and each other. It was opened on the initiative of Furtherfield (http://www.furtherfield.org) in the vibrant and culturally diverse Green Lanes area of North London. HTTP works with a wide range of artists and audiences to explore the potential of network technology and to promote distributed creativity. HTTP is supported by Arts Council of England.

Opening hours: Friday to Sunday 12noon-5pm
Tube: Manor House Buses: 29, 67, 141, 253, 254, 259, 341 Train: Haringey Green Lanes
www.http.uk.net