ALT+CTRL at UCI Showcases Gaming Innovations
By Anna Lynn Spitzer
10.25.04 -- The Beall Center for Art and Technology, and the Calit² Irvine division Game Culture & Technology Lab are sponsoring ALT+CTRL, a festival of independent and alternative computer games. The interactive exhibit runs through Nov. 24 at UCI's Beall Center.
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Students try their hand at interactive games.
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ALT+CTRL showcases the most innovative new concepts in game genres, designs, methodologies and approaches. More than 20 works are displayed, including modded games, hot-rodded machines, net-based games, installations and machinima screenings. The display was awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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"I am David Koresh." The player begins the game by assuming the identity of the infamous Branch Davidian.
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The custom exhibition features an environment produced by internationally acclaimed graffiti artists and crews, who have covered the Beall Center's walls with dazzling interpretations of the games and concepts. ALT+CTRL was organized by UCI studio art professors Robert Nideffer and Antoinette LaFarge, and Celia Pearce, Calit² new media arts layer manager. Indi McCarthy, assistant director of the Beall Center, supervised the graffiti artists and was also instrumental in planning the exhibition.
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Brightly colored walls interpret the games, avatars and modding.
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The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Beall Center hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and noon to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. For more information, visit http://beallcenter.uci.edu.
