Video Games and the Real: Phenomenology vs. Derealization
A 2013 article from artpress2 explores the connection between video games and reality, referencing the "Topographies de la guerre" exhibition held at Le Bal in Paris from September 17 to December 8, 2011, co-curated by Jean-Yves Jouannais and Diane Dufour. It contrasts Harun Farocki's "A Sun with no Shadow" with the 2010 Wikileaks footage "Collateral Murder," which shows a U.S. airstrike on Iraqi civilians. The exhibition suggests that both works illustrate a "derealization process" influenced by video games, positing that virtual settings desensitize military personnel. The article challenges this perspective through Husserlian phenomenology, emphasizing the need to evaluate video game imagery for its technical and aesthetic qualities rather than simply as sensory experiences.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Topographies de la guerre' held at Le Bal, Paris, from September 17 to December 8, 2011.
- Co-curated by Jean-Yves Jouannais and Diane Dufour.
- Exhibition juxtaposed Harun Farocki's 'A Sun with no Shadow' and Wikileaks video 'Collateral Murder' (2010).
- Farocki's 'Serious Games' series includes four parts: 'Watson is Down', 'Three Dead', 'Immersion', and 'A Sun with no Shadow'.
- Virtual Battle Space II developed by Bohemia Interactive.
- Virtual Irak is a modified version of Full Spectrum Warrior, developed by Institute for Creative Technologies and Pandemic Studio, published by THQ in 2004.
- Husserl's phenomenology distinguishes between physical image consciousness and phantasia.
- Husserl analyzed the stereoscope as a case of hallucination mixing image types.
- Farocki's 'Auge/Maschine' series (2001–2003) examined operative images and subjective phantom shots.
- Chris Marker's 'Le Fond de l'air est rouge' includes a Vietnam War pilot's commentary during a napalm attack.
- Article published in artpress2 n°28 'Jeux vidéo : surfaces et profondeurs' (February–March–April 2013).
- Dave Grossman's 1999 book 'Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill' cited as a less subtle thesis on video games as killing simulators.
Entities
Artists
- Harun Farocki
- Chris Marker
- Jean-Yves Jouannais
- Diane Dufour
- Dave Grossman
- Edmund Husserl
- Daniel Birnbaum
- Doug Aitken
Institutions
- Le Bal
- artpress2
- Bohemia Interactive
- Institute for Creative Technologies
- Pandemic Studio
- THQ
- Wikileaks
- West Point
- Seattle Art Museum
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Seattle
- United States
- 29 Palms
- Vietnam
- Iraq
Sources
- artpress —