Winter-Semester 2011/12
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
The Extended Definition of Game-Play / Reality Design
Research Class

Through the exposure of digital media, game-play is experiencing a universal renaissance: A playful mindset increasingly pervades aspects of our society and thereby shapes our reality and self-understanding.
On can trace the tracks of an extended definition of game-play. It reaches far beyond the safe and defined frame of space and time of games and thus provides a merging of reality and fiction. We are going to follow these tracks, identify core motives and mechanisms and verify them through experiments.
Besides fundamental research on the topic, another main focus of the research class will be the development and realization of Pervasive Games as model for implementing the extended definition of game-play in contemporary art practices. This will be achieved in group-work, which will make up a large part of the class apart from the philosophical-play theoretical readings and discussions. Research results are planned to be published at the end of the semester.

Announcement in german:

Summer-Semester 2011
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
Ludology - Regulating Worlds
Course

Digital Games remind us that the "lets-act-as-if" state opens up space in which the human can transcend the absurdity of everyday life procedurally. Games tend to generate meaning out of unrelated and apparent meaningless elements. In the course we will examine and seek to define the value and function of this state of consciousness. The analysis will take place through various play systems.
The course consists of two parts: The theoretical will take place weekly in the morning, the practical every two weeks in the afternoon.
In the morning sessions we will get to know different ludological positions from philosophy, anthropological culture theory, Game Studies and Game Design, as well as from literature, regarding the rule-theoretical potential of games.
Furthermore we will examine the effects in concrete understanding of games in more detail through practical exercises in the afternoon. Hereby students do not only have the opportunity to learn different techniques to develop game-concepts, which range from classical parlor games, concept art and performance all the way to computer games, but will also learn to critically reflect them in regards to level of meaning creation. A frequent participation in both blocks, the theoretical and practical, is required to take part.

Announcement in german:

Summer-Semester 2011
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
The Orgy
Course

What is "the orgy", how does it function and what social value did and does it hold?
We are going to approach this question in the course by discussing in detail the tension-field of control and loosing control. The border crossing of conventions and norms in orgies is upheld by a temporal and spatial framing. At its core we find the very paradox of games. We are going to have a more detailed look at this framing through historical and contemporary examples. We are not only going to deal with sexual disruptions of conventions, but also bring other forms of playful border crossings into discussion. The course is both suited for practitioners and theoreticians.
Besides a frequent participation, the course attendant must keep up with assigned readings of authors such as Plato, de Sade, Nietzsche, Artaud, Bataille and Foucault.

Announcement in german:

Winter-Semester 2010/11
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
Transreality Games
Course

Currently technological advancements like GPS, User-Generated-Content, Web 2.0 and the I-Phone-Revolution challenge the Media Arts. This course responds to these developments by dealing with the history and the possibilities of Augmented Reality, Transreality, Location-Base, as well as Alternate Reality Games (ARG). All of them represent a young and fresh attempt to cross inter-media elements of live-roleplay and computer games. Furthermore all of them share a degree of merging reality and fiction, which increasingly pervades everyday human communication.
At the core of the course there will be a critical discussion of the ARG slogan "This is not a Game". It is the task of the course to critically question not only its propagandist potential, e.g. Viral Marketing, but also to develop innovative forms from its narrative and immersive characteristics. Through the collective readings regarding the pervasion of fiction and reality in the experiential game, as well as discussion on first attempts in dealing with this new technology, students get the opportunity to develop their own concepts in cooperation with the MIR research project by Frank Halbig.

Announcement in german:

Winter-Semester 2010/11
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
Gaming Narratives
Course

The goal of the class is to become familiar with, and understand, the semantics and argumentation structure of Digital Games. Computer games are artificial systems, with which one interacts, and which stand further in relation to other systems. We learned from the internet that we are living in systems in which we work and learn. Games are based on systems, and to move within a game means to move within a system. But how does one tell a story within this very movement? In a time in which the complex functioning of interrelated systems is no longer graspable through one-dimensional mental achievement, media art offers a model of thought and action that is not only led by representation and direct references, but offers a huge sensibility on complex parameters and variables. In this course we will question the possibilities and limits of narration in games by reading and discussing texts of Ludology, Game Studies, as well as works of the entertainment industry and contemporary art.

Announcement in german:

Winter-Semester 2010/11
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
Gaming Narratives - PracticePracticePractice
Workshop

In addition to the course "Gaming Narratives" there will be practices held on three weekends.
Students will have the opportunity to learn different techniques for modification and creations of game concepts based on experience.
A frequent participation in the course "Gaming Narratives" is recommended, but not conditional for participation in the workshop. The task assignments and themes of every practice will be communicated via email. The workshop is open for everybody and does not require any type of specific technical knowledge.

Announcement in german:

Summer-Semester 2010
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
Medium Computer Games
Course

That which movies and cinema meant for the 20th century, will be what the computer game will become for the 21st. By reading and discussing collectively selected readings of classical Ludology, the history of the medium, the still very young discipline of Game Studies, as well as the developer perspective, we are going to deal with the problem of the creation of meaning in digital games. Core questions, like "Which definition of play is being transported here?", "What meaning does the relationship between hard- and software have, and that of embodiment and virtuality?", as well as "What social role does the medium play?", are following us through the whole course. Furthermore we are going to throw some light on digital games in the media arts. The course is open for all majors.

Announcement in german:

Summer-Semester 2010
Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design / Media Art Department
Gaming
Interactive Screening Course

Talking about digital games without playing them is like discussing a movie according to screenplays or screenshots. Computer games need to be played in order to have the opportunity to express themselves. For this reason the interactive screening course "Gaming" is performing and discussing classical and contemporary computer games. We are going to play and discuss commercially successful, as well as independent productions, and works of the art world collectively. The interactive screening course is an extention of the course "Medium Computer Games".

Announcement in german: