Gameboy UltraF_uk

Selected for the Transmediale 2002 International Media Art Festival, this project consisted of a digital, interactive installation that appropriated computer games in order to critique narratives common to the genre. The project is a computer game that can be displayed and disseminated in various forms. Playing the game induces a visual decay in the game’s appearance that reveals the underlying computer code. In this project Corby sought to draw attention to and critique the violence implicit in computer games by turning the original violence of the game in on itself in a manner that ultimately subverts the gamer’s urge to annihilate. By highlighting the underlying code of the game as a visual component, he also draws attention to the material realities that underpin all gaming and digital artefacts. Gameboy_ultraF_uk was an early instance of digital art that critically comments on, or uses, computer games - now a commonplace in the field. The work contributed to international debates exploring the use of computer code as a potential aesthetic component in its own right. Gameboy_ultraF_uk was invited to participate in several early international exhibitions featuring computer games. Peer recognition is also evident in successful submission (jury selected) to international digital art festivals. The work features in the key texts that make theoretical contributions to the area of artist’s videogames including Bittanti’s book Teorie e prassi del videogiocare, and Clarke and Mitchell’s Videogame Art. Numerous academic papers cite this project including in DEBUG magazine, the Journal de Letras Artes e Ideias and Visible Language. Corby was also invited to give a paper on the work at File 03 International New Media Symposium in Sao Paulo with British Council funding. Production and concept development was equally shared with Gavin Baily. It involved programming a be-spoke software application using C++ that “backwards engineered” a number of popular game titles in order to reconfigure their engines. Research was undertaken into cellular automata systems in order to achieve this