If a gallery is a pleasure machine, Pac-Mondrian reduces the complexity of the art interface to the simplicity of a joystick, giving the viewer a direct circuit to pleasure. The hand-painted Pac-Mondrian Artcade cabinet reduces the sacred gallery to the funhouse arcade, and transforms worship into play by inviting the viewer to touch it. Rather than asking when a video game is good enough to be art, by declaring "Let's Play Art!!!!" Pac-Mondrian asks why can't art be as fun as a video game?
ATARI = ART + AI (Artificial Intelligence). The art responds intelligently to the movement of the joystick, reinforcing a kinaesthetic pleasure of movement with the synaesthesia of moving images synchronised with sound. Kandinsky delighted two senses by exhibiting his paintings with music, and Pac-Mondrian adds the haptic by piercing the canvas with a joystick to make the colours swirl and dance in concert with the music and movement of the viewer.
If Kandinsky was around today, he would be a game designer.
Expert video game players are virtual virtuosos, playing the joystick with the creative intelligence wired into their nervous systems to create beautiful patterns on digital instruments.
"Whether it's Pac-M[ondri]an or any other game, you have to practice. Unless you practice, you can't ever expect to be a star."
George Sullivan, How to Win at Video Games: A Complete Guide, 1982.
The Pac-Mondrian Artcade Cabinet is available for gallery installation! To bring the Pac-Mondrian Artcade Cabinet and art to your space, please contact pacmondrian@pbfb.ca
