/research

 

Research Interests:

Fine art, digital games, media theory, spatial theory, sound art, media art, game culture.

Current Research:

2001 - 2006 PhD Research into the Modalities of Space in Video and Computer Games

at the University of the Arts London, Research Scholarship London Institute.

Supervisors: Dr. Angus Carlyle (LCC), Alan Sekers (LCC), Prof. Clive Richards (Coventry University).

>>READ the abstract + DOWNLOAD the PhD here

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Publications - Talks - Presentations - Articles

BOOK CONTRIBUTIONS :

International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media

Volume 3 Issue 2
Cover Date: December 2007
Intellect Books

"Playing the third place: Spatial modalities in contemporary game environments"
Authors: Axel Stockburger
DOI: 10.1386/padm.3.2-3.223_1

Keywords
digital games, game studies, spatiality, game art, media studies, interactive art

Abstract
The article identifies the specific nature of spatiality as one of the most important aspects of contemporary networked game environments and presents a close reading of Henri Lefebvre's spatial theories in order to gain a different perspective towards the subject. Artistic interventions in the form of online performances by artists such as Eddo Stern and Joseph DeLappe are discussed as exemplary forms of critical engagement with these emerging immersive environments.

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"LISTEN TO THE ICEBERG: On the Impact of Sound in Digital Games" in:

SPACE TIME PLAY
Computergames, Architecture And Urbanism: The Next Level

Edited by Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz, Matthias Böttger

"SPACE TIME PLAY" IS A JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST, PRESENT
AND POTENTIAL SPACES OF COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES.

The richly illustrated texts in "Space Time Play" cover a wide range of gamespaces: from milestone video and computer games to virtual metropolises to digitally-overlaid physical spaces. As a comprehensive and interdisciplinary compendium, "Space Time Play" explores the architectural history of computer games and the future of ludic space. More than 140 experts from game studies and the game industry, from architecture and urban planning, have contributed essays, game reviews and interviews. The games examined range from commercial products to artistic projects and from scientific experiments to spatial design and planning tools.

"Space Time Play" is not just meant for architects, designers and gamers, but for all those who take an interest in the culture of digital games and the spaces within and modeled after them. Let's play!

With contributions by Espen Aarseth, Ernest Adams, Richard A. Bartle, Ian Bogost, Iain Borden, Gerhard M. Buurman, Edward Castranova, Kees Christiaanse, James Der Derian, Stephen Graham, Ludger Hovestadt, Henry Jenkins, Jesper Juul, Frank Lantz, Bart Lootsma, Winy Maas, Lev Manovich, Jane McGonigal, Kas Oosterhuis, William J. Mitchell, Howard Rheingold, Katie Salen, Hans-Peter Schwarz, Axel Stockburger, McKenzie Wark, Mark Wigley and many more.

Space Time Play
Edited by Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz and Matthias Böttger
In cooperation with Drew Davidson, Heather Kelley, Julian Kücklich
496 pages, 268 color illustrations.

17.0 x 24.0 cm. Softcover.
Price: CHF 52.90* / EUR [D] 31.99
ISBN 978-3-7643-8414-2.
English.
© 2007 Birkhäuser

"Space Time Play" will be available in bookstores as of October 2007
(USA November 2007). The book can be purchased, for example, from the
Birkhäuser/Springer Online bookstore.

or via Amazon

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"audiomaps" in: Autumn Leaves - Sound and the Environment in Artistic Practice

Autumn Leaves is a book about how sound encounters space and about how that encounter has been made visible, legible and, most importantly, audible. The book draws together a number of different perspectives - from acoustics to architectural criticism to anthropology and beyond - and places these perspectives in conversation with others developed through creative practice.

Edited by Angus Carlyle, includes Essays by: Bill Davies, John Levack Drever, Tobias Fischer, Steve Goodman, Tim Ingold, Helmi Järviluoma, Ari Koivumäki, Meri Kyotö, Heikki Uimonen, Rahma Khazam, Sylvain Marquis, Tom Rice, David Toop, Salome Vogelin and Hildegard Westerkamp.

Interviews with: Peter Cusack, Max Dixon, Christina Kubisch, Alvin Lucier and Hildegard Westerkamp.

Artworks by: Mira Choi, Jem Finer, Charles Fox, Dan Holdsworth, Zoe Irvine, Nikolaus Gansterer, Cathy Lane, Locus Sonus, NYSAE, Aki Onda, Tashi Petter and Rachel White, Axel Stockburger, the students of Srishti College Bangalore, Goran Vejdova, Claudia Wegener and John Wynne & Tim Wainwright.

Published by Double Entendre & CRISAP

ISBN: 09548074-3-X

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"Playing at Freedom" in: Pensee Sauvage - Von Freiheit (D/E)
Catalogue published in connection with the exhibition Pensee Sauvage-on Freedom at Frankfurter Kunstverein by Revolver Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. Texts by Jennifer Allen, Anselm Franke, Christian Kracht/Ingo Niermann, Chus Martinez, Axel Stockburger and Jan Verwoert. 206 p.
ISBN 978-3-86588-377-3

Playing at Freedom - >> download english pdf

the catalogue is available here >>>

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"From Appropriation to Approximation" in: Videogames And Art (2007) Eds.: Grethe Mitchell and Andy Clarke, University of Chicago Press, Chicago

From Madden NFL 2007 to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, videogames are firmly enmeshed in modern culture. Acknowledging the increasing cultural impact of this rapidly changing industry, Videogames and Art is one of the first books devoted to the study of videogame art, featuring in-depth essays that offer an unparalleled overview of the field.

The distinguished contributors range broadly over this vast intellectual terrain, positioning videogame art as a crucial interdisciplinary mix of digital technologies and the traditions of pictorial art. They examine machinima and game console artwork, politically oriented videogame art, and the production of digital art; they also interview prominent videogame artists about their work. Rounding out Videogames and Art is a critique of the commercial videogame industry comprising several critical essays on the current quality and originality of videogames.
ISBN: 978-1-84150-142-0

Intellect Books (UK)

University of Chicago Press (US)

available from Amazon

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"Introduction to the Vienna Scene" in: VJ: AUDIO-VISUAL ART + VJ CULTURE
Edited by Michael Faulkner/D-FUSE, published by Lawrence King Publishing

D-Fuse authored book VJ is the first wide-ranging guide to the global phenomenon of audiovisual art and VJ culture. Combining how to, showcase and reference elements this book explores the artists at the forefront of this amazing audio-visual experience. Featuring over 130 global contributors and an extensive hardware and software resource section. The book includes a free DVD featuring documentaries, live performances and videos from featured artists.

ISBN-10: 1856694909
ISBN-13: 978-1856694902

available from Amazon

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2008:

Roundtable Discussion Mi. 28. Mai, 10.30 - 17.30 Uhr
Ludic Society - Ludic Arts? Spiel als popularkulturelles Medium der Kunst.
Kunsthalle Wien project space karlsplatz. with Mathias Fuchs (Manchester), Margarete Jahrmann (Zürich), Kristian Lukic (Novi Sad), Sergius Kodera (Wien), Robert Pfaller (Linz), Axel Stockburger (Wien), Ulrich Schädler (Frankfurt, La-Tour-de-Peilz), Paul Sermon (Manchester) und Isabelle Arvers (Marseille) as part of GAMES: KUNST UND POLITIK DER SPIELE.

Organisation and Coordination of the International Symposion UTOPIA OF SOUND: Non Simultaneity and Immediacy with Constanze Ruhm and Diedrich Diederichsen, May 29 - 31 2008 at the Academy of Fine Arts , Vienna.

2007:

Invited Talk: MODALITIES OF SPACE IN VIDEO AND COMPUTERGAMES - as part of the workshop
On/Off at the Architectural Department RWTH Aachen, 19.11.2007. Invitation by Georg Rafailidis.

Panel Discussion : YOUR SPACE IS NOT MYSPACE - User Generated Content meets Contemporary Art with F.E. Rakuschan. Sat 17.11.2007, 18h, at kM > showroom, Vienna. Invitation by Klaus Strickner.

Invited Talk: ABSTRACTION IN VIDEO ART, 11.11.2007, Donau-Universitaet Krems, Department für Bildwissenschaften. Invitation by Marc Ries, Jeanna Nikolov-Ramirez Gaviria.

Invited Talk: VISUAL MUSIC - Synchronicity
17.08.07 - 19h, as part of the international CAMP Festival at the Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany. Invitation by Cornelia and Holger Lund of fluctuating images.

Invited Talk: WARGAMES - Battlefields in the Playgrounds
Project Art Center, Dublin, Ireland - 26.06.07, as part of the exhibition PLAY SAFE - Battlefields in the Playground curated by Jonathan Carrol at project arts centre, Dublin.

Invited Talk / Workshop: PLAYING AT FREEDOM
22.06.07, as part of the exhibition PENSEE SAUVAGE - Von Freiheit, curated by Chus Martinez, at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany.

Invited Talk/Panel Discussion: PLAYING THE URBAN
26.04.07, as part of the exhibition Video as Urban Condition, curated by Anthony Auerbach, LENTOS Museum, Linz, Austria.

2006:

Invited Talk: REPLAY, 15.11.2006, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland.

Invited Talk: GAME ARCHITECTURE, 24.05.2006, Studio Lainer, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria.

Invited Talk: REPLAY , Dimensions of Time in Contemporary Game Culture
AGAIN FOR TOMORROW. Exhibition 08.04.06, Royal College of Art, London. UK.

Talk: ART VERSUS GAME, Modalities of Space, 25.01.2006, Goldsmith,
Center for Cultural Studies, Interactive Art Department, London. UK.

2004:

Invited Talk: PERVASIVE PLAY, The Phantom of Convergence and Multiplayer Location Based Games
at: Interact 1, LCC, University of the Arts, London, UK

2003

Paper Presentation: THE GAME ENVIRONMENT FROM AN AUDITIVE PERSPECTIVE
at: Level Up, Digital Games Research Conference, Utrecht, NL
or go to Audiogames.net

>>> download pdf

Paper Presentation: FROM APPROPRIATION TO APPROXIMATION, The Relationship Between Fine Art and Computer Games,
at: Pixel Raiders 2 Conference, Sheffield University, UK

>>> download pdf

2002

Paper Presentation: HEAD LEFT - CLIMB UP - JUMP IN       
What Do Walkthrough Texts Reveil About The
Representational Navigable Spaces In Video And Computer Games?
at: Playing with the Future Conference, University of Manchester, UK

>>>download pdf

 

Teaching & Lectures

2000 - 2002

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, Interactive Digital Media MA Course: Computer Game Special
(Course Leader: Michael Breidenbruecker).

Wimbledon School of Art, Video Foundation Course, Workshop: Found Footage in Contemporary Art Practice (Course Leader: Gudrun Bielz)