Author: Sarah Grace

Entry #2

Sarah Grace

This week was met with excitement and failures regarding the creation of Hack #1. It was super overwhelming at first to choose an idea. There are so many different games and forms of technological play that a Makey Makey could be used to control. However, Marie and I decided to comment on the idea of games with a juxtaposition similar to what we saw in class on Tuesday. This is when things started to go south a bit. We knew we wanted to use stuffed animals to control the arrow keys to play the creepy, horror-character version of 2048. Simply connecting the stuffed animals to the Makey Makey cables did not work because it did not conduct electricity. We tried a few different variations, but ultimately, there was no feasible way to produce enough electricity while keeping it aesthetically pleasing because we would have had to cut open the stuffed animals in order to put two pieces of tinfoil inside. Sadly, we had to land on taping electricity to the back of the stuffed animals, so when the user picked up the stuffed animals, they each took the place of the arrow keys.

Another fail: I have been trying to upload a photo to my artist statement for the last 20 minutes and it is not working even though last semester I made an entire digital art portfolio on this platform and never had an issue! I am still having some trouble navigating this website to try and get everything formatted correctly.

Hack #1

Sarah Grace

For the first “Hack” of this class, my partner, Marie, and I used a Makey Makey in order to test its limits and comment on border social concepts of play. By combining two completely opposite spectrums of “play,” I hoped to provide a criticism of the broader implications of technology. A Makey Makey is a fun alternative to using physical objects to replace digital keys or clicks on a form of technology. We decided to use stuffed animals to control the arrow keys on our keyboard. These fun, innocent plush toys, in combination with the Makey Makey, are then used to play a horrific, creepy version of 2048, which replaces the numerical blocks with pictures of serial killers. This “game” that we created involves two concepts of play addressed in Caillio’s Man, Play, and Games–Agon, and Mimicry. 2048 is a competitive game in which a player can win or use while playing with stuffed animals as a form of role-playing or make-believe. 

In our current society, children play games on the internet just like they play with physical toys. As technology grows, the accessibility of content expands. A child with access to a phone, computer, or internet could play this 2048 game just as easily as they could play with stuffed animals. The combination of these contradictory things shows a concerning juxtaposition. In reality, stuffed animals do not come into contact with or are seen near violent horror characters. Through unsettling proximity, I hoped to provide further commentary on how we have accepted violence as normal. Games such as 2048 show that people seek out and find enjoyment through interacting with violence and terror. Not only is this available to play, but it is accessible to anyone on the internet. Children are confronted with this violence as a new normal. Increased interaction with games such as this 2048 desensitizes children to violence and horror. 

This game ultimately represents the game industry and technology in America that is sold to children. With no restrictions, video and internet games allow children to play violent games because of their competitive nature, which makes them want to continue. In our “game,” the comfortable, sweet stuffed animals are used as the tools to play, and this competitive game matches the horror characters. By exaggerating the juxtaposition of these two elements, I hoped to make a broader comment on the complex nature and dangerous undertones of the expansion of technology on gameplay. 

Entry #1

Sarah Grace

My first week in this class has been met with excitement yet a lot of challenges. To begin, this site has been difficult to navigate and design. Although I worked with WordPress last semester in my digital art class, I used pages rather than posts. This new format and theme that I have chosen has been quite a process to get used to. I did a weekly journal in one of my classes sophomore year, and I found that it helped me be more aware of my successes and failures. This allowed me to feel more accomplished and comfortable at the end of the semester because I was constantly checking in on myself; I am super excited to see the progression of this Flog throughout the year.


Additionally, my partner and I are still struggling to come up with a concept for the first Hack project. I have a grasp on the four types of play outlined by Caillos: Agon, Alea, Mimicry, and Ilinx. It has been hard to find a game that can be played with the arrow keys or a simple click that fits these categories while remaining fun and unexpected. Reading the texts from last week allowed me to have some revelations about play that I had never considered before. The idea that the rules and standards that surround play are only applicable in that one scenario is wild to think about. The way individuals act when they play golf is completely outside “normal life.” I am super excited to take a deeper dive into everyday concepts that I have not had the chance to think about from an academic and deeper perspective!