GVU Brown Bag - Cindy Poremba
Documentary is an expressive framing of indexical documents that plays off the connection created between the viewer and the world. Videogames struggle with certain core elements making up this documentary ideal-- for example, demonstrating a prominent (minimally-invasive) indexicality. However, they are not alone in this struggle. In particular, documentary animation not only shares many common challenges when it comes to the creative treatment of actuality, but as a sub-genre it has learned to embrace its against-the-grain status. Following suit, what strategies might game makers adopt when creating documentary games? Can documentary videogames ever be recognized, or even welcomed, into the documentary fold?
Dr. Cindy Poremba, is a digital media researcher, creator and curator. She is interested in the intersection between creation practices and technology-- specifically how meaning is read through digital technologies. Her research explores documentary in videogames and digital media, art and independent videogames (particularly the new arcade movement), emerging artistic/cultural practice related to photography, videogames and robotic technologies, and research-creation methodology in interactive art and design. Cindy is is currently a Postdoctoral Research fellow at the Georgia Institute for Technology, a former faculty member in Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT), and co-curator for "Joue le jeu," the Gaîté Lyrique’s 2012 summer exhibition. She organizes non-traditional exhibitions and arcade events as an independent curator and member of the Kokoromi game art collective.
