Ludic Artifacts - Austin Clinton (MFA Thesis Exhibit)

Ludic Artifacts was one of the most unique galleries I have seen. The gallery pertained to games and ludology, which is the study of games. At first glance, the pieces of Austin's gallery seemed confusing and a bit esoteric. However, reading the captions and descriptions provided a more narrow perspective to his art pieces.

A majority of the pieces were created with paper and represent an aspect of gaming life. One of the most interesting parts about his gallery were the materials he chose to use. In one piece, he created a 3-dimensional scene using a black box and yellow paper figures. This was one of my favorite pieces. It was very aesthetically pleasing. Aesthetics was a theme in his gallery, and he really integrated aesthetics to his pieces, which is also an essential element in gaming.

The last part of his exhibit included a chess game created with 3D printed chess pieces. Austin and a few friends were playing chess, as well as speaking about the aspects of chess. It seemed as if some of the chess pieces had been renamed by Austin (right). Since chess is a somewhat slow game, it is always interesting to examine the ethical dilemmas that occur to the players.

It was a very interesting exhibit, and helped me understand the complexities of gaming a little bit more. Additionally, it excited me for the future advancements of 3D printing, and how it can be incorporated into daily life, such as this game of chess.