<nettime> OUT Game Interventions on Eve of RNC

[anne-marie <opensorcery@opensorcery.net>]

--OUT Military Game Interventions on Eve of RNC--

Popular military simulation games move out of game space and into the 
streets of New York when Anne-Marie Schleiner and her team project 
the violent and realistic imagery of war onto building facades in 
three different neighborhoods in New York.  The artist and her 
cohort, clad in futuristic military garb, are on the street carrying 
a projector and a laptop.  They are connected through a mobile 
wireless bicycle to an online team of five game players located 
around the world. The team intervenes on servers in a popular online 
military simulation game with performance actions-ranging from 
simulated grenade suicides to propaganda to playful and absurd dance 
performances. The live projections in the city that incorporate these 
new actions can be viewed live at the sites or through web cams on 
the OUT website www.opensorcery.net/OUT.

OUT (Operation Urban Terrain) is an artistic intervention of online 
military games played out in public spaces in New York City by art 
activists using high tech gear, strategy, and humor.  OUT takes its 
name from MOUT - a military term for Military Operations in Urban 
Terrain. Infiltrating and masquerading as games, many military 
simulation computer programs, such as the popular "Full Spectrum 
Warrior," are marketed to civilian players and training them in MOUT 
combat.

Simulation games implicitly express certain ideologies of their 
makers, and American war games are particularly telling of how our 
government's power structure is upheld through military intervention. 
OUT confronts the dual reality of these "games," raising important 
questions about their social implications and underscoring the danger 
of blurring boundaries between entertainment and "real" coverage.

OUT critiques the increasing militarization of civilian life that has 
been implemented since 9/11, from the The Patriot Act to surveillance 
of private and public spaces to the increased powers assumed by the 
military. OUT challenges the U.S. Army and Pentagram computer game 
developers to get OUT of the minds of civilian gamers.

OUT Performance,  August 28, 2004
Location One: Midtown, 5th Ave & 45th St.,  10:00-10:15 p.m.
(Live Webcam:  http://www.opensorcery.net/OUT/)
Operation Anti-Propaganda, OUT Team members use a cheat to suicide 
themselves while the game admin sends anti AA propaganda text 
messages that appear in the middle of the screen to all other players 
on the server.
Location Two: Harlem, 125th St. & St. Nicholas St., 11:15 - 11:30 p.m
Operation Virtual Sit-in, OUT Team members set off grenades to kill 
themselves  sitting down in a circle.
Location Three: Brooklyn, 1:00-1:20 a.m. Check site for  exact 
location, opensorcery.net/OUT/
Operation Bridge Dance, OUT team members from opposing teams approach 
each other with a moonwalking dance.

Sept 2, 2004, Talk begins at 7:30
Post-performance Talk, Anne-Marie Schleiner with
on site collaborators Luis Hernadez, Pierre Rahola, Elke Marhoefer
The Upgrade! hosted by Eyebeam at
Postmasters Gallery
459 West 19th Street (at 10th Avenue)
New York, NY
http://www.treasurecrumbs.com/theupgrade

AA gamers can participate in performances at the server: 
OperationUrbanTerrain IP 62.93.241.105

OUT is supported by the Lyn Blumenthal Memorial Fund and Creative 
Time and  includes the participation of the artists and gamers Luis 
Hernandez,  Pierre Rahola,  Yury Gitman, Elke Marhoefer, John 
Brennon, Chris Birke, and Vani Brusadin

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