LO: A Focus on Women and Non-binary Practitioners in Computational Art

Image from All The Places You’ll Go (Women As Place)

For this assignment, I was excited to see a creator I was familiar with on the list: Angela Washko. Angela Washko is currently a visiting assistant professor of art here at CMU, but normally she’s based in NYC. Washko has received two degrees: a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Temple University and a Masters of Fine Arts from UC San Diego. Her work focuses on feminist perspectives, especially in media and video games. The project I’m particularly interested in is her All The Places You’ll Go (Women As Place). This is an “interactive hypertext point-and-click narrative adventure game” where the player explores different geographic locations by clicking. However, the geographic locations are described as women, derived from postcards of each place, described as  “sights” to see. I am personally very interested in feminist topics, so this video game is one that I admire quite a bit. It’s witty, charming, and has a distinctly vintage feel, yet still feels very contemporary. It’s also a slightly unnerving experience where the women in these postcards gradually become more and more objectified, more part of the place, less like people at all the more you play. The entire thing feels very well done. 
Angela Washko, All The Places You’ll Go (Women As Place), 2016, https://angelawashko.com/artwork/3907233-All-The-Places-You-ll-Go-Women-As-Place.html

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