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Abstract
"BlackLash" deploys the learned structures of simple shooter games to formulate political criticism. In this completely self-programmed game, one aim is to defend yourself against swastika-adorned spiders, racist policemen and Ku Klux Klan members. Richard Pierre-Davis is a member of the British artist group Mongrel, whose work reflects on Great Britain’s multicultural reality. The various levels in the game are themed on computer game classics from the nineteen-seventies (e.g. "Tempest" and "Space Invaders"). The role you choose at the start of the game determines the possible routes through an "urban warzone". However, because the characters available to the player are black cliché figures (e.g. "Crime Lord" or "Lover"), the game is more ambivalent that it would seem at first glance. With a soundtrack by Wu-Tang-Clan, the game aims to gain acceptance among young people. Richard Davis: "It also aims to encourage the black community through game culture that it is possible to break into different areas apart from music, and create games that have got something to say."
(Tilman Baumgärtel)
Artists / Authors
- Mongrel: Richard Pierre-Davis
Origination
United Kingdom, 1998
Submission
, Apr 13, 2004
Category
- artistic production
Keywords
- Topics:
- games |
- media art |
- animation |
- artistic software
- Formats:
- software |
- interactive |
- computer animation