Artists Explore Video Games in Online Exhibition

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The MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina has been helping artists explore the artistic potential of video games as part of a new digital residency. Works by five artists are now posted as a digital exhibition playable with a standard desktop or laptop computer.

"Each work investigates an aspect of our contemporary moment, making inquiries into the subjects of care, control, mental health, isolation and shared crisis," says the MacKenzie.

Toronto-based Thirza Cuthand, a member of Little Pine First Nation, created Bipolar Journey, inspired by her personal experiences, while Hilarey Cowan’s Caring Capacity is a meditative, interactive audio-visual experience about care. 

Dallas Flett-Wapash, an Ininew/Seaulteax digital artist, plays on popular game mechanics to reveal their underlying ideologies in Crappy Home Designer. The Sky is Falling, by Toronto-based Simon Fuh, is a new interpretation of Chicken Little, explicitly tied to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

In Regina artist Sandee Moore’s Nowhere/Anywhere, players explore reimagined prairie landscapes while embodying a plastic shopping bag. 

The residency was launched in the summer of 2020 as many arts programs were being cancelled due to COVID-19 measures. 

“It was important to quickly respond to the needs of artists at that time of uncertainty,” says Cat Bluemke, who worked with digital programs coordinator Jonathan Carroll to develop the initiative.

It is part of the MacKenzie’s Digital Lab project, funded through the Canada Council for the Arts, which supports digital art production and literacy across Saskatchewan. 

Source: MacKenzie Art Gallery