Homo ludens ludens

Locating play in contemporary culture and society

Exhibition: 18 April – 22 September
Conference: 19 – 20 April (admission: 20 EUR / 10 EUR)
Venue: LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijón/Spain http://www.laboralcentrodearte.org/

LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial presents HOMO LUDENS LUDENS, an international exhibition and conference examining play as a principal element of today’ s world, and highlighting its necessity for our contemporary societies. Following the exhibitions GAMEWORLD and PLAYWARE, that reflected respectively on the different playful and social sides of gaming creativity and interactive art, HOMO LUDENS LUDENS now sets the setting that embraces these data and looks into the notion of play in a wider spectrum, presenting how it has evolved in our digital times.

Projects of a different character and orientation reflect play’s various expressions and roles: Play is being reformed and reversed; it embodies social and political acts and issues; it becomes a tool for activism; it mingles the virtual and the real; it revitalises other disciplines; play can be misused and exploited; while stereotypes are challenged, questions are raised and different understandings are offered.

Following the same direction, the international Conference HOMO LUDENS LUDENS which is co-organized with the Planetary Collegium aims through its two-day programme to situate the frame context of contemporary play, to highlight its interdisciplinary character and to present the multifaceted reality of the playful society we are living in. To achieve this, the Conference forms a special setting for dialogue and experimentation where it brings together international experts from the field of game theory as well as artists and practitioners who embrace elements and signs of play and playfulness in their work and research activities.

So, what is play today and what about the player? The exhibition and conference can be understood as an examination of play as a vital element in our everyday life and as a speculation on the emergence of a Homo Ludens Ludens – the contemporary playful man.

Participantes en la Exposición / Exhibiting Artists:
John Paul Bichard, France Cadet, Derivart, Devart, Hannah Perner-Wilson & Mika Satomi, Ge Jin, Vladan Joler, Radwan Kasmiya, John Klima, La Fiambrera Obrera & Mar de Niebla, Danny Ledonne, Valeriano López, Ludic Society, Marcin Ramocki & Justin Strawhand, Martin Pichlmair & Fares Kayali, Brian Mackern, Larry Miller, MIT Lab – Drew Harry & Dietmar Offenhuber & Orkan Telhan, Molleindustria, Julian Oliver, Orna Portugaly & Daphna Talithman & Sharon Younger, Personal Cinema & the Erasers, Rolando Sánchez, Alex Sanjurjo, Gordan Savicic, Axel Stockburger, Silver & True, Román Torre, David Valentine/MediaShed (ft. Methods of Movement), Volker Morawe & Tilman Reiff, William Wegman

Participantes en el Simposio / Conference Speakers:
Roy Ascott, Laura Baigorri, Laura Beloff, Erich Berger, Matteo Bittanti, Isabelle Choinière, José Luis de Vincente, Julian Dibbell, Daphne Dragona, Wolfgang Fiel, Gonzalo Frasca, Luis Miguel Girão, Margarete Jahrmann, McKenzie Wark, David Mcconville, Guto Nóbrega, Julian Oliver, Paolo Pedercini, Martin Pichlmair, Anne Marie Schleiner, Mike Phillips, Michael Punt, Nicolas Reeves, Natacha Roussel, Semi Ryu, Natasha Vita-More, Monika Weiss

Co-organizadores del Simposio / Conference Co-Organizers:
Planetary Collegium

Comisariado / Curatorial team:
Erich Berger, Comisario Jefe / Chief Curator, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijón
Laura Baigorri, Comisaria independiente / Independent Curator, Barcelona
Daphne Dragona, Comisaria de arte de los nuevos media / New Media Arts Curator, Atenas / Athens

Website: http://www.laboralcentrodearte.org/