The games of Gabriel Orozco

Pbs.org has an interview with Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco, who, among other media, uses games (and non-games) in his work.

About his work "Horses Running Endlessly", he says:

"I play a lot and I wanted to make a chess game that was about the knight—the horse—and then I multiply it by four. They’re all horses so there are no queens and kings, towers and bishops, just horses. And they’re running endlessly because they are all together running in this open field. You have a game that I didn’t put any rules."

This is not the only game-based piece by Orozco, who also did works around the themes of ping pong and billiards. In the interview, he explains his attraction to games:

"Every game has a connection to how we conceive nature and landscape. How we order and we structure reality."

Read the interview here.

Types of Play, by Evan Robinson

Originally published in 1990-1991, Types of Play, by Evan Robinson, is a short article with some insights on computer games and non-games as well.

"I believe we are trying to categorize the wrong thing. I suggest that the critical element in our taxonomy is the way users interact with entertainment products, not whether or not the product has sub-systems that 'anticipate' the user's moves. In addition, we are attempting to overlay new meaning on words that have common usage, which will invariably result in confusion both among ourselves and among our users."

Check the whole article at Chris Crawford's Library