.
The exhibition Pong.Mythos will be presented at the Museum fÃr
Kommunikation (Communication Museum) in Frankfurt from November 16, 2006
to January 21, 2007.
Pong.Mythos is a touring exposition that started this year at
WÃrttembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart and went later to GC Art in Leipzig.
For the first time, pong.mythos consolidates in one place one of the
great and most popular founding myths of our digital information society
in its many complex manifestations.
Pong, the simple, digital ping pong game that started the computer games
industry in the 1970s, has already emancipated itself from its
historical origins in the game arcades and has an important reference
for society, science and culture. This increase in relevance is due to
the historical fact that Pong played a large role in the commercial
leverage of computer technology for entertainment purposes. Today's
natural idea of making computers accessible in principle to everyone is
in hindsight the dawning of a new age.
It is therefore hardly a surprise that a largely young generation of
artists has discovered Pong as a reference for their works and made it
the most-discussed computer game in the art scene. The participating
artists use the original digital game as a supply for material and
meaning to lend shape and content to their ideas and theses. A key
concern for this is the exploration of the human-machine interface.
pong.mythos collects works from the fields of installation, video and
software art. In addition to the works of art, historical exhibits such
as the Atari Coin-op from 1972 and the replica of the home video game
prototype are used to present Pong's history and to document the
continuing survival of Pong in science and pop culture.
Participating artists and inventors
//////////fur//// (D), Ralph H. Baer (USA), Blinkenlights Projekt (D)
Jaygo Bloom (UK), Nate "Blunty" Burr (AU), Loren & Rachel Carpenter
(USA), Dekalko Studio/Djeff Regottaz (F), Dirk Eijsbouts (NL),
Fraunhofer-Institut (FIRST)/Charità (D), Sebastian Hanig, Gordan Savicic
(AT), Kiia Kallio (FI), Stephan âSTâ Kambor (D)/ BlinkenArea, Nicolas
Lebrun & Friends (F), Ludic Society (CH/AT), Andrew Milmoe (USA), Josh
Nimoy (USA), Noel Nissen (CA), Oska Software (AU), Alan Outten (UK),
Guillaume Reymond (CH), Niklas Roy (D), Leif Rumbke (D), Antoine Schmitt
(F), Jan-Peter E.R. Sonntag (D), Timeâs Up (AT), Mathilde ÎP (NL), Olaf
Val (D), Buro Vormkrijgers (NL), Philip Worthington (UK)