This game play session: July 6 at 9:30AM | wo games that challenge (in very different ways) modern systems of inequity: Bloc by Bloc: Uprising and Disparity Trap. RSVP here.
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Can games work as political art? Can play be simultaneously fun and serious? Game designers have taken up these questions in recent years, creating games that attempt to capture the intellectual and emotional stakes of power relations in our world. The ambition of these games goes far beyond so-called “gamified learning.” Rather, they immerse players into serious emotions, political topics, and urgent contemporary issues by asking them to think, choose, and act within the structured space created by the game.
In June and July, Chandler Jennings (Artist-in-Residence) is hosting a series of guided playthroughs of some of these games, followed by an informal discussion, at Welcome Gallery. These games confront the complexities of climate change, speak to the pointless suffering and trauma of war, critically examine economic inequality, and even model the tension and danger of anti-authoritarian insurrections.
Each session will be different—driven by the choices and actions of the individual players—and will offer a critical and experiential look at possibilities and limitations of political games as art. How is the experience of playing a game similar or different to other art forms? Do games offer unique resources for addressing difficult questions? What are the limits of this experience?
About Chandler: Chandler Jennings is an analog games maker, writer, and academic. During his 2024 Spring Research Residency, Chandler is refining "Justice". Part storytelling game and part interactive installation, "Justice" asks participants to theorize, build, and test a system of justice in an imaginary society (with implications for our own).
Chandler’s games try to challenge participants to explore the limits of their political imagination and consider serious issues from unexpected angles. He is particularly interested in how storytelling and imagination can translate into political agency and how these can move beyond the game-space to work towards justice in the real world. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Chandler received his BA from Pomona College in 2014 and his MA from the University of Virginia in 2023 (both in English). He is very happy to be living in Charlottesville with his wife, Michelle, and their dog, Joni.
The 2023-2024 Research Residency is made possible with support from the Anne and Gene Worrell Foundation.