Death to Realism! 018
Death to Realism! 018
Happy new year! If you need a refresher on the origin & nature of these bi-weekly updates, check out the first issue before reading on.
What's New?
I started working on this before the Game Jolt adult games deletion controversy, I swear, but this week I finished a mini-site called The Future Museum of Sex Games. It was for Domino Club's Secret Fanta event, where we made a fan work for someone else's project in the club. My site is responding to Oma Keeling's film Who Plays Unspeakable Games? but of course, right when I was almost finished with it, it suddenly became even more broadly relevant. Also, for my secret fanta, Fotocopiadora made some cool fanart and an awesome piece of music for my game 10,000 Sex Arses Stuck at Calais, which you can see here.
Wrapping up the year, I also did a year in review thread of stuff I made, as well as a round-up of any particularly strong opinions I had about books I read.
Coming Soon
I've been taking it slow, and most people around me seem to have been as well (good!) which means I'm still gradually ramping up to actually doing stuff. I'm really excited for the next interview I have lined up for the Critical Distance podcast, and I also have an interesting writing opportunity to wrestle with. The traditional writing jam in February will also probably be happening, though I don't have a solid theme decided on yet, and otherwise, I'm continuing to wrangle my novel draft.
The Rec Room
Like everyone else you know on twitter I have been sucked into the Wordle hole, today tragically perishing in "n. - a narrow valley between hills or mountains, typically with steep rocky walls and a stream running through it," today after a 12-day streak, a very Oregon Trail way to go.
remember clicking ok?
Memory Card 2021 was nominated for an IGF award, allowing me to finally feel on-the-ball and current about games I like
These rats you can make in flickguy are so cute
I'm obsessed with this video.
I've Been Reading
I read a ton over the holiday break, but the standouts to me were Clarice Lispector's The Passion According to GH, and Tom McCarthy's new one, The Making of Incarnation. I think I talk about both of them in my book roundup, and they're very, very different novels, but both super ambitious and committed to their subject. I'm starting the new year by jumping into a reread of Nabokov's Ada, which may or may not be a good idea, I'm waiting to see, but I also enjoyed reading the first few sections of this book on aesthetics and social practices surrounding Warez, which is available as a free pdf.
In terms of shorter stuff, I liked this article outlining alternative values to foster with media history. I also found this book review really insightful, because it's actually an analysis of why so many attempts to get across the issues of the dystopian-level centralized and commercialized platforms and services, a very real and very exasperating part of our lives, tend to both aesthetically and conceptually fail. I also liked this essay, vividly imagining the end of the block chain as so many other tech ventures have gone, as a hollowed-out ruin. Hopefully sooner rather than later, huh?
I think that's all I have this bi-week! For new subscribers who have signed on since the last newsletter, you can check out the archive of past issues at any time! And I hope you all had a nice holiday and are doing well in the new year.
Thank you again for your support,
Emilie