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Online Exhibit at APSU Examines Meaning of Time

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – How long is a day? It seems like a simple question, but the answer depends on where exactly this day is taking place. In artist Michael Demers’ new exhibit, “The Sky is Falling (A Day in the Life…),” he examines the passage of time in the gaming world.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – How long is a day? It seems like a simple question, but the answer depends on where exactly this day is taking place. In artist Michael Demers’ new exhibit, “The Sky is Falling (A Day in the Life…),” he examines the passage of time in the gaming world.

            “This work consists of captured Sony PlayStation 3 video from ‘Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,’ edited to reflect the seamless passing of game time and ‘real’ time,” he said. “One minute of ‘real’ time equals approximately 30 minutes of game time. The resulting 24 two-minute videos record the passing of one game day.”

            This innovative new work opens Nov. 15 on the website TERMINALapsu.org, a space sponsored by Austin Peay State University’s Department of Art and the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts to showcase and examine Internet and new media art.

“References to playable characters, AI characters and accompanying sound effects have been edited from the video in an effort to focus on the notion of a virtual space with the possibility of non-virtual habitation, defined in part by the passing of game time during the observer’s ‘real’ time,” Demers said. “The health meter, magic meter, stamina meter, weapon and magic selections and the game compass have been unedited as a digital referent in the hyper real environment of the game engine.”

Demers, of Los Angeles, has taught college-level digital art and new media courses since 2007. His own work incorporates culture and cultural identity in a synthesis of critical investigation and his own adolescent preoccupation with toys and other weird ephemera. He has exhibited internationally, most recently at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Artists Space in New York and the Arlington Arts Center in Virginia.

His piece is the second of four new Internet-based artworks that will be displayed on the website this year as part of the inaugural “Terminal Project Awards.” Barry Jones, associate professor of art and director of the site, said TERMINALapsu.org received several entries for the new award, which resulted in four artists receiving a small stipend to create a new work. In addition to Demers, the recipients include Jody Zellen, who opened the project last month with her “Lines of Life,” and Benjamin Baker-Smith of Chicago and Scott Kildall of Chicago.

            For more information on the upcoming exhibits or on TERMINALapsu.org, contact Jones at 221-7330.