MCA Launch Party: I Was Raised On The Internet

August 9, 2018 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm The Tank

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is one of the nation’s largest facilities devoted to art of our time, offering exhibitions of the most thought provoking art created since 1945. This summer, the MCA presents the landmark exhibition “I Was Raised On The Internet”, an immersive and participatory show examining the impact of the internet and how it has changed the way we experience the world. The exhibition presents a global range of artists working in new media such as Oculus Rift and platforms like Facebook and Snapchat, who examine the influence of gaming and entertainment, as well as social media and smart phones, on everyday life. “I Was Raised on the Internet” is on view now and runs until October 14, 2018.

Join us, Thursday, Aug 9 from 5:30 – 9pm for a fully immersive event inspired by the work of “I Was Raised on the Internet” and to celebrate the ongoing partnership between the MCA and Chicago Athletic Association hotel. The event will feature art-inspired VR opportunities from Reality Bytes, and unique video games and artwork provided by VGA Gallery and BitBash, plus cash bar and live DJ set by CDVR.

RSVP does not guarantee entry.

Participating games include:

#IWORTI_World: An immersive painting that allows users to add to, observe, or walk around in the Tilt Brush application. It is a revolutionary art medium that combines painting and sculpting into a unique technique that engulfs the user in the art.

Porpentine Charity Heartscape’s “Pain Transmuted Into Happiness” (2013): Pain Transmuted to Happiness relishes in the simple pleasure of a dancing figures, resolved as abstracted 2D sprites. The game begins by dancing alone. As time passes, the player is joined by an ecstatic group of figurative dance partners, against a pastel pixel background. You are invited to play a song of your choice in accompaniment with the game.

Anna Anthropy’s “Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars” (2011): Play the spider-queen who must quell a rebellion of consensual slaves, armed with a magical staff that fires bondage lasers. Designed by Anthropy, the game features art by Mariel Kinuko Cartwright and music by Amon26.

William Chyr’s “Manifold Garden” (2018): Manifold Garden is a first-person exploration game. Rediscover gravity and explore an Escher-esque world of impossible architecture. Witness infinity in first-person, and master its rules to solve physics-defying puzzles. Manifold Garden is being designed and developed by William Chyr, and is intended to be released on PlayStation 4 and PC in 2018.

Dani Soria’s “ASMR” (2018): ASMR playfully examines the difficult to interpret emotional response surrounding videos created to stimulate Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response that juxtaposes the pleasurable, if not erotic, effects of ASMR with the more aberrant aesthetics to how such videos are distributed and presented.

Die Gute Fabrik’s “Johann Sebastian Joust” (2014): Johann Sebastian Joust is a non-video digital multiplayer playground game designed for motion controllers with each player hoping to be the last one surviving in a game where movement is restricted by the tempo of J.S. Bach’s ‌Brandenburg Concertos. Players work to position themselves in an attempt to jostle other players, forcing their elimination, while paying attention to their own movements.

Terry Cavanagh’s “Constellation” (2017): Originally commissioned for the 2017 Now Play This festival at Somerset House in London, Constellation is a game where you just type “things” (among other words which populate, modify, and orchestrate a digital scene).

Molleindustria’s “Dogness” (2018): Dogness, 2018, is a game in which you to have to create a the most “perfect” and homogeneous dog park by selectively breeding dogs created to contrast with current resurgence and normalization of racist ideologies.

Hi-5 Heroes (Bobby Lockhart and Marty Meinerz) is a 2-player cooperative rhythm game where two people high-five, low-five, and fist-bump to the beat.

is an immersive tech agency that provides VR, AR, and 360 services for education, entertainment, and enterprise. Our one-stop-shop will guide you from an introduction to the technology through it’s successful deployment into your needs. Immersive technology can be confusing and unfamiliar, which is a major concern when considering it’s use. We present the industry in a way that’s easily understood and encourage it’s use in marketing, training, and designing, among other industries. Our services include consultations, presentations, full-service VR stations, and immersive content creation. Our station will be an immersive painting that allows users to add to, observe, or walk around in the Tilt Brush application. It is a revolutionary art medium that combines painting and sculpting into a unique technique that engulfs the user in the art.

is a volunteer run organization that works to produce events and installations focused on inspiring the public with lesser-known digital and physical games in a safe, inclusive, on positive environment. Bit Bash strives to make video games accessible for everyone while putting Chicago on the map as an amazing place to experience independent game culture and fostering the local artist community. The organization is sponsored by the Chicago Foundation for the Interactive Arts, an Illinois 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation dedicated to elevating the interactive arts medium.

As Chicago’s first nonprofit gallery devoted to video games and new media, Video Game Art (VGA) Gallery organizes exciting programming including exhibitions and events featuring the work of significant artists and game developers from around the world; education programs comprised of talks, screenings, and student programs; the VGA fine art print collection encompasses giclees and posters of artwork from video games; and the VGA Reader, a peer-reviewed journal that highlights new scholarship about video games and new media art. VGA Gallery is located at 2418 W Bloomingdale and is an Illinois 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

Image: Eva and Franco Mattes, My Generation, 2010.