>>>Game Show @ "here Art, NYC"
by Genco Gulan

Game is the ultimate interactivity. It is the opposite of trade where you exchange real objects with money and again money has a reference to the other objects for example the gold.  In games you exchange information or get plesure from the pure interaction. I feel that game is very similar to art. Of coure I am not referring to the paintings or sculptures which became the subject of trade. Rather, my reference is more to interdisciplinary arts, inter media, performance art, web art all, rather in a stage of flux.

When I asked the content of the show to the curator, Tim Hailey, he did not explained much. He wrote to me:
"Basically, selected artists were given the name of the show (Game Show) and left to interpret that on their own. Much, but not all, of the work will be interactive and playable."

Then he wrote me the names of the artists a bit of description of their work:
"The artists in the show are: Aaron Carroll, Ken Como, Patrick Cronin, Harold Griffin, Genco Gulan, Tim Hailey, Jeremy Kaplan, Chicory Miles, Erin Miller, Anastasia Pelias, John Salvest, Christopher Saucedo, STRETCH, Matt Vis, Megan Whitmarsh, Michael Whitney and Ellen Staller, and Laura Wyss."

Tim wrote to me about his project for the show: My work is called the "Vitamaster Pro 6000 Push Scooter Drag Racing Trainer and Simulator: Feel the Launch!" It consists of a push scooter on a treadmill with POV video of Pro Stock motorcycle drag racing and a "special effects" wall of box fans.

Then he wrote me about other artists' works: "Then there is Genco's lobster tank;  Christopher Saucedo is doing a game table sculpture; Erin Miller is making a crossword puzzle; Aaron Carroll and Harold Griffen are doing a sound piece; Chicory Miles is making a "game tub"; Matt Vis and I are making a "ping-dong: the site-specific ping-pong game" table; Megan Whitmarsh is making an embroidering; Michael Whitney and Ellen Staller are making a dart board; and Laura Wyss is making a photo-based piece."

For this project I (Genco Gulan) decided to make a conceptual piece which is called "Liberty Game". The piece comments on the American (immigration) System symbolising it with live Lobsters whose claws are tied up. The rules of the games is simple, you can live (in US free!) if you do not use your claws.

Tim conluded with these lines:"That's about all I know. I prefer to be very vague about describing unseen artwork verbally. I hesitate to even refer to it as art: let people have their own experience and that sort of thing."

I met with Tim years ago at here. He made an installation with Matt Vis and it was an evolving structure which they supported with videos and performances. It was great fun and one of the best show I had seen in NYC. Then we became friends and he invited me to this show.