nickconnorss

This game takes you back through the day in the life of high school. Go through your daily routine in the morning as well as attending class each day. Play the game here before reading the rest:

https://nickconnorss.itch.io/artwork-4

This artgame is designed with the specific purpose of raising awareness about the realities and commonalities of school shootings in America. In chapters 2 and 3 of Works of Game, written by John Sharp, the author discusses the difference between ‘Game Art’ and ‘Artgames’ and how each one expresses something different. My game falls under the category of an artgame because it focuses on crafting an experience that delves deep into life’s metaphysical aspects, exploring themes of ethics and the human condition, which is how Sharp describes artgames to be. The design of this game is deeply personal, rooted in a personal experience with a school shooting incident at Saugus High School. By integrating this personal narrative, my game transcends traditional game mechanics and becomes a platform for players to engage with and understand the emotional and psychological impacts of a tragedy like this. This is in line with the essence of Artgames, where the gameplay and objectives should be intertwined with the artist’s vision. The goal of this artgame is to spread awareness and show that something as tragic as this can happen in a split of a second, affecting the lives of everyone around. Rest in peace Gracie and Dominic, you will be cherished in our hearts forever.  

The Process:
Check your screen time on your phone for the last week. Download the app Unpluq (black and yellow logo) and make an account. It will ask questions about your schedule, phone usage, as well as a choice to pick two apps to put blocks on. Choose the two social media apps that you use most (for example mine is instagram and tik tok so I chose those). Choose the time you regularly/usually go to bed during the week and block those apps one hour before that. This will prevent you from going on your social media apps as much right before you sleep as well as right when you wake up. Give yourself an hour/30 minutes before checking your phone when you wake up as well as when you go to sleep. Also, change your phone to black and white. Since everything on your phone has certain colors to catch your attention, making them black and white will make it less likely for you to click on something and get distracted with it. This should prevent screen time with high usage. You can find how to do this in your phone’s settings. With these changes your screen time should be down from the previous and you should notice a lot of changes with how you spend your time. While you catch yourself in a moment like this, write down on a piece of paper or in your notes about some new things you accomplished or did as a result of not being on your phone. At the end of the week, check your screen time and compare it to what it was last week. Hopefully it went down and hopefully you realize how toxic and unhealthy social media is and how long you spend on it.

The results:

For this intervention, I wanted to intervene in people’s daily lives and how they regularly use their phones and social media. I got inspiration from Chris Burden who was willing to put his health on the line in order to create his artwork. I decided I wanted my intervention to be something drastic like how Chris Burden did his work so I decided to hit our generation in its weak spot, taking away our social media. Of course, it was not nearly as physically dangerous as Chris Burden’s work but it was still mentally difficult to stay disciplined. So, I got a group of 6 people (roommates and suitemates) and gave them the above information. I encourage everyone reading to partake as well. They decided to do this for the week and see how it impacted their screen time as well as their day to day lives. I got tremendous feedback from my friends and they said it was an eye opening experience. All of their screen times went down by at least two hours, some even more. One of my friends decided to go rock climbing at the local gym in Fenway since he was not on his phone all day. Another one of my friends enrolled in a spikeball tournament and won with another one of my friends. They all found better alternatives in their lives rather than being glued to their screen all day. They also said their sleep schedule improved after a rough first few days since they were not used to going to sleep without their phone. Once they got over the first few days, it was easy to fall asleep since they accomplished a lot more throughout the day and were tired from it.

In a world of conflict, the Dada movement developed as a daring response to the war, embracing the bizarre and senseless. The chaos of World War I provided fertile ground for the Dadaists’ revolutionary spirit, as they used art to transcend reality’s darkness into a realm of absurdity, satire, and amusement. Using inspiration from this, I appropriated the board game “Headbandz” to craft an experience that serves as a playful counterpoint to the somber undertones of the Dada movement, infusing it with a sense of light-heartedness and pure enjoyment.

My journey began with a desire to harness the Dadaist spirit of rebellion and absurdity, transforming “Headbandz” from a game centered around objects into an ensemble of diverse video and board/card games. Rather than appropriating the tension of war, I aimed to infuse a sense of lightheartedness and fun into the experience. Through the reinterpretation of cards, I have provided a platform for players to escape the weight of reality and immerse themselves in a world that they are familiar with, by reminiscing about some of the most popular games in recent times.

The game works similarly to how “Headbandz” originally works, but instead of guessing random objects players are guessing popular games within recent times. Since this is a games course, I thought appropriating the “Headbandz” game to be about video/board/card games would be fun. Since I wanted the game to fit the lighthearted feel, I tried to think of popular games that everyone would know so players could reminisce once they figured out what their game was. I play-tested it in class as well as in the final iteration and everyone seemed to enjoy guessing and talking about popular games that they played growing up. I got some suggestions about making it a bit faster since it took a decent amount of time to play so I decided to have two game modes, one for a quicker game and one for a longer version. The quicker one would be timed and each player would have 30 seconds to ask as many yes or no questions about their game to try and figure it out. Once the 30 seconds was up, it would move to the next person and repeat the process until someone guessed their game correctly. For the longer version, there would be no timer involved and each player would ask a yes or no question about their game. If the answer to their question was a yes then they would keep asking questions until the answer was no and then it would be the next person’s turn. This process would repeat until everyone guessed their game correctly.

Each morning, take a single die and cast it.

Memorize the number revealed.

Throughout the day, bestow compliments equal to that number.

Observe the faces you touch.

Witness the transformation in their spirits.

Take note of the reverberations.

A simple act, a profound impact.

“Compliment Cascades” is a call to embrace everyday kindness. Inspired by Yoko Ono and my mother’s unwavering insistence on me being a gentleman and treating others with respect, this artscore invites you to roll the dice of positivity.

Every morning, roll a die, and let the number guide you to compliment that many people throughout your day. It’s a simple gesture with a profound impact. In a world where small acts of kindness can make a big difference, this score empowers us all to brighten someone’s day with a genuine compliment.

Yoko Ono’s piece called Grapefruit had a major impact on my work as well as Allen Kaprow, who were both a part of the Fluxus movement. I took Yoko Ono’s collection of conceptual art and poetry and created these sets of instructions. I wanted the vibe of it to be similar to how she is commanding, while having a deeper meaning. I wanted people to realize our world is tense and divided because we do not treat each other like human beings with respect. I want people to put their differences aside and be genuine to each other. I wanted to show how easy it is to do so by simply taking a die and rolling it. Effortless and not complicated. Something that just… happens. 

Kaprow advocated the elimination or at least reduction of the conventional boundaries between art and daily life. He thought art should be easily incorporated into our everyday experiences and environments rather than being restricted to certain places or items. He led the happenings movement, a type of art event that blurred the lines between art and life. This piece is supposed to do so, and just happen naturally.

Documentation: After implementing this into my every day routine for the last week, I respectfully decided to not take any pictures or video of me doing this, because I felt it is personal and should not be shared with others. However, I will say that seeing all of the smiles and lit up faces really makes my day. Just try it out for yourself and you’ll see 🙂