This week, Somerset House showcases avant-garde games exploring liminality
Each year, Somerset House in London hosts a short festival featuring experimental video games. Last year’s theme was love, and Now Play This, now in its 10th year, has chosen liminality as this year’s theme, which is particularly fitting for the medium. Video games occupy a unique space; they are fictional realms where real-world connections are forged, and they are an art form that straddles technology and culture. This selection includes games that explore the theme from surprising perspectives, touching on transition, growth, life and death, boundaries, and even skating through virtual landscapes.
The range of interactive experiences available is vast, showcasing the diverse possibilities of games and digital art. Some pieces offer more conventional interactive entertainment, such as Ed Key and David Kanaga’s Proteus, where players navigate a procedurally generated dreamscape, and Sad Owl Studios’ Viewfinder, an exceptional game exploring perception and photography. Then, there are more unique installations, like Labyrinth, featuring interconnected ropes that illuminate LED cubes upon contact, and a playable suitcase called Moving Memories by Pamela Cuadros. In another area, a film depicts a journey into the glitchy outskirts of the game Cyberpunk 2077, while Crashboard, a game where players wear 3D glasses, stand on a skateboard, and maneuver through a pixelated obstacle course reminiscent of early internet imagery, stands opposite.
Cis Penance: Transgender Lives in Wait takes a unique angle on the theme. It consists of interactive interviews with transgender and non-binary individuals discussing their experiences and the challenges of accessing gender-affirming care. It’s important to note that many non-binary individuals do not see themselves as existing between the gender binary but rather outside of it altogether. On the other hand, Pippin Barr’s v r 5 is an exhibit featuring shadows on an island created within the Unity game engine.
A trio of games exploring life and death are accompanied by Astro.Log.IO, an experience where you input your birthday, enter a tent, and listen to the sound of the stars at your birth time. Artworld Gaiden, an interactive comic housed in a bright orange cabinet separate from the rest of the exhibition, offers a delightful silliness amidst the generally serious tone of many other games. Maze Walkthrough, with its unsettling nature, is also worth experiencing; you navigate through endless corridors reminiscent of various sci-fi films, feeling trapped in a perpetual loading screen.
While this year’s theme of liminality may lean towards introspection and unsettlement, there is also room for playfulness. Outside Somerset House, children enjoy a mini-golf course that can be endlessly reconfigured. Inside, a room is dedicated to crafting, modeling with junk, and doodling. A charming scavenger hunt challenges visitors to decode a message for a chance to win a sticker. Now Play This not only showcases gaming’s avant-garde but also offers a fun day out. It’s guaranteed that you’ll encounter something here that will change your perception of what games can achieve.