"Just Don't Smile" is an odd collection of games developed by Peter Sheehan and co.
Premiering March 22nd at the Frame Gallery, this event was supported in part by funding from the Carnegie Mellon University Frank-Ratchye Fund For Art @ the Frontier. It will contain an array of games, some available on perebite.com, some premiering for the first time here, including "Pecking Order" and "One Million Games +." 8 games will be shown, and in addition, the animation, "Wario World War III." The games set out to analyze the rule based systems that games use to funnel players into revenue streams, while also considering how similar systems are used to funnel people into controlled ways of thinking. These funnels can come in many forms, from peer pressure, a desire to escape, incentives, love, and fear. Fascism, colonization, unbridled capitalism, and neoliberalism are each systems explored in the show, each intermingling in different ways.
The title itself comes from an old Nintendo advertisement. "Just Don't Smile," the ad says, "When they say you're grounded." Because when your parents tell you to go to your room, you can be happy with the fact that video games wait behind your door. Cynically, one might reconsider this happiness when the methods of punishing disobedient people change with time.
03/22 - 03/24
Opening 03/22 6-9pm
03/23 - 03/24 Gallery hours 12-5pm
Premiering March 22nd at the Frame Gallery, this event was supported in part by funding from the Carnegie Mellon University Frank-Ratchye Fund For Art @ the Frontier. It will contain an array of games, some available on perebite.com, some premiering for the first time here, including "Pecking Order" and "One Million Games +." 8 games will be shown, and in addition, the animation, "Wario World War III." The games set out to analyze the rule based systems that games use to funnel players into revenue streams, while also considering how similar systems are used to funnel people into controlled ways of thinking. These funnels can come in many forms, from peer pressure, a desire to escape, incentives, love, and fear. Fascism, colonization, unbridled capitalism, and neoliberalism are each systems explored in the show, each intermingling in different ways.
The title itself comes from an old Nintendo advertisement. "Just Don't Smile," the ad says, "When they say you're grounded." Because when your parents tell you to go to your room, you can be happy with the fact that video games wait behind your door. Cynically, one might reconsider this happiness when the methods of punishing disobedient people change with time.
03/22 - 03/24
Opening 03/22 6-9pm
03/23 - 03/24 Gallery hours 12-5pm
