09.11. Dave Griffiths presents Naked on Pluto / Virtuality Study Group Introduction

Naked on Pluto is an open source, multiplayer online facebook game which serves as the focus for a wider examination of online privacy via a blog, interviews, public events and lectures. The project was developed during a shared residency at NIMk, BALTAN Laboratories and Piksel, between June and November 2010, by Dave Griffiths, Aymeric Mansoux and Marloes de Valk.

The project recently won the VIDA 13.2 Award. The Art and Artificial Life International Awards created by Fundación Telefónica in 1999, and has since become a worldwide reference for artistic research on artificial life.

Come to find out more why from one of the project’s creators, Dave Griffiths, whom we have the privilege to host as the closing presentation of this year’s Pixelversity programme (he also opened it;).

Looking forward to next year, this session also introduces Pixelversity 2012 cluster-theme: ‘Social Identity, Augmented Reality & Virtuality’ initiated by Owen Kelly, which will explore digital tools, interfaces between public / private, personal / social & real / virtual.

Of all the cluster-themes next year, this one is the only online-based activity, although there will be chance to gather offline occasionally too. (Can turn up virtually? – Let us know in advance which way and we try to hook you up) .. So welcome to join this introduction session to contribute to plans and ambitions for next year, and help to shape the agenda.. Maybe also you know people outside of the Gulf of Finland region who would like to get involved?

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More about Naked on Pluto

The game explores the limits and nature of social networks from within, slowly pushing the boundaries of what is tolerated by the companies that own them, carefully documenting this process as we go. We use the story of Elizabeth Magie’s Landlord’s game (the precursor to Monopoly made in 1903) as inspiration for games as explorations of political issues. Instead of tenant’s rights however, we combine story and play in an investigation of our exposure on social networks, and an examination of how our data is being used.
Issues discussed in some way:

* Online privacy, real issues vs media fluff.
* Loss of control with centrally managed platforms (cloud computing).
* Problems with deeply encoded assumptions of social relationships in closed API’s.
* Art games, political games – a way to explore an issue by playing with it, taking on different roles.
* Collecting player’s opinions about an issue as part of the game.

You can read more about its development here: http://pluto.kuri.mu

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More about Owen Kelly

Owen Kelly currently teaches online media at Arcada, a university of applied sciences in Helsinki, Finland.

He was born in Birkenhead, England, and studied English Literature and Sociology (with Computer Science) at the University of Keele, Staffordshire. He subsequently worked in London as a community artist; edited Another Standard, the UK community arts magazine; a cultural consultant; an Apple Macintosh trainer; a freelance programmer; and a lecturer in interactive media.

He moved to Finland in 1998, where he worked as a web designer and programmer during the first internet bubble. His recent research projects include Marinetta Marinetta Ombro, Arcada’s learning laboratory for online pedagogy and synthetic culture; the development of the Memi, a lifelong online learning space; and Snowcastle Valley, a virtual world for ten year olds.

In 2007, he received a master’s degree in epedagogy from the University of Art and Design, Helsinki. He is currently currently completing his doctoral research in the art education department at Aalto University.

He is the author of Community, Art and the State, and Digital Creativity. He co-authored Another Standard: culture & democracy, and The Creative Bits; and has contributed to several more books. His latest published works are a chapter entitled Sexton Blake and the Virtual Culture of Rosario: a biji in the book Mashup Cultures, edited by Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss (SpringerWienNewYork, 2010) and Marinetta Ombro: a culture not a classroom in Transforming Virtual World Learning, edited by Randy Hinrichs and Charles Wankel (EmeraldInsight, 2011).

He is online at www.owenkelly.net

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Details of the Event

Date: Keskiviiko / Wednesday 09.11.2011
Time: 18.00-20.00
Where: Pixelache Office, Kaapelitehdas/Cable Factory
Map: Tallberginkatu 1 C 23 (4. Kerros/Floor), Helsinki
Event organisers: Andrew Gryf Paterson, Owen Kelly.