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Abstract
"Bio-Tek Kitchen" by the Australian artist duo Leon Cmielewski and Josephine Starrs is based on the first-person shooter game "Marathon Infinity". By manipulating the software, the artists modified the interface of the game so that players no longer find themselves in the martial, futuristic setting of the original, but rather in the biotech kitchen of a hobby lab technician. Instead of bloodthirsty opponents, players combat genetically manipulated and mutated vegetables that turn out to be part of a global conspiracy to take control of the entire food chain. Their weapons are cleaning rags and kitchen utensils. Only the sound, the game structure and a few graphical elements (e.g. the score bar) are references to the original game.
Cmielewski and Starrs demonstrate a mixture of scepticism, irony and enthusiasm regarding the possibilities that new technologies offer for games.
By modifying a current game interface, the artists succeed in parodying the entire genre. At the same time, they re-evaluate typical game horror scenarios by alluding to what can get out of control as a result of human manipulation.
(Silke Albrecht)
Artists / Authors
- Leon Cmielewski › Biography
- Josephine Starrs › Biography
Origination
Australia, 1999
Submission
, Apr 8, 2004
Category
- artistic production
Keywords
- Topics:
- interface |
- games |
- media art |
- virtual reality
- Formats:
- virtual environment |
- interactive |
- computer animation