Six international speakers have been invited to address the theme of games and image. Topics include gaming as a new space for social and creative dialogue, manufacturing methods and geek communities.

PANEL

Thorsten S. Wiedemann // Playful Media creators are the poets of the 21. Century.
This conference depicts the worldwide movement of authorship and artistic expression in games and virtual reality.
Technology offers artists exciting new opportunities to tell immersive stories, create playful experiences, build engaging and stimulating virtual worlds that open up new spaces for discussing certain social issues. As games are now the leading form of entertainment, the way we interact and experience art and critical content will be in a playful way.
Thorsten S. Wiedmann, founder and director of A MAZE, produces and organizes festivals, fairs and workshops on the intersection of video games, their culture and play media. Together with « A MAZE. / Berlin » and « A MAZE. / Johannesburg », he created two annual international festivals to showcase independent games and virtual reality.
It also produces new review formats (A MAZE. Magazine, A MAZE. Pop-Ups) and builds open spaces for experimentation, collaboration and exchange. With the « A MAZE. Awards », established in 2012, Thorsten rewards original, daring and clever games in 6 different categories. Its aim is to promote interdisciplinary debate and bridge the gap between games, art and culture.

ANTONIN FOURNEAU // Recipe for a contemporary funfair
Eniarof is a funfair whose codes are revisited by its creators to create new forms of attraction inspired by the festivals of yesteryear, where freaks and new inventions rubbed shoulders. Antonin Fourneau will present a history of the various Eniarofs that have taken place since the project was launched in 2005. This presentation will be supported by the book « Eniarof – guide de bricolage pour fabrication de fêtes forianes », which will enable him to explain certain attractions in detail.

SOPHIE DASTE // Eniarof’s geek spirit
In this presentation we’ll see how, from its etymology to its evolution in usage, the term geek is deeply linked to the practice of traveling artists. We’ll find it updated in its contemporary form, as this new geek, mostly associated with videogame practices, is part of the new form of traveling funfair presented here, Eniarof. For the duration of the exhibition, artists and participants share their membership, in varying degrees of exploration, of this same multi-generational community.

Jérémie Cortial & Roman Miletitch // Interactive drawing
How do you make your drawing interactive? First, a camera, a computer, a video projector. Then felt-tip pens on paper, tagging bombs on the wall, colored food on pizza… the choice is yours. In this talk, Papertronics will share its lessons learned in designing interactive experiences based on color recognition and shape description. We’ll then look at the implications of this analog format and the gameplay possibilities it offers.

Chema Damak – SEMAG!
The video game industry is one of the most prolific of modern times, reaching nearly 2.6 million people worldwide, with a market share greater than that of music and cinema combined. But who plays? When and what? And how are these games created? We’ll be talking about this in our Eniarof-style presentation of video games.