Games & Life - lecture series

A lot of interesting topics to learn more about!

Poikilo museums together with The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) are organizing this interesting lecture series. The series is part of the Unelmana pelitaide-project, which is funded by the Wihuri foundation.

All the lectures are streamed and they are meant for everyone interested in the art of games and are free of charge. The lectures will be in Finnish.

This year's lectures are over, thank you to everyone who came to the lectures or tuned in online. You can watch all the lectures with English subtitles here.

Juho Kuorikoski talked about the art of games in May.

Games as a modern phenomenon

Lecturers: Kati Alha and Mikko Meriläinen .

Free-to-play games have transformed game industry. Games like Fortnite, Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon GO and League of Legends are not just popular, but have clearly surpassed games with single payment in revenue and player populations. At the same time, free-to-play games have received a backlash, and provoked discussions on ethical issues as well as on what makes a good game. On Kati Alha lecture, we look into the rise of free-to-play games and its meanings, and consider whether games and playing have been permanently changed. 

Mikko Meriläinen discusses gaming bildung and game education: why is it important to address and understand young people’s gaming as a complex phenomenon, and why is limiting gaming not sufficient for game education purposes? 

Luennon tallenne: https://youtu.be/IyCb8_T9uAw 

Time: Wednesday 16.3. at 17:30─19:00
Location: Xamk, Kasarminmäen kampus, auditorio, Paraatikenttä 5, Kouvola

Games and their societal impact

Lecturers: Aleksandr Manzos,and Sonja Ängeslevä.

Games are not separate from the outside world. In what ways do they transmit, discuss and transgress societal norms? Does gaming itself change who we are and how we act? Aleksandr Manzos, lecture goes through both direct and indirect effects games have on a societal level. 

In a changing society, the role of an individual and the diversification of the worldview could have a decisive impact on solving the challenging problems of today’s society. If siloed or bureaucratic public sector cannot solve environmental issues, Covid-19 pandemic or growth of inequality, could game structures or ways to present puzzles help us to simplify complex systems and provide a field for testing and experiencing alternatives? These topics are issued on Sonja Ängeslevä's lecture. 

Streamlink to the lecture: https://youtu.be/Pu2OZgTg-FA 

Time: Wednesday 13.4. at 17.30─19.00
Location: Xamk, Kasarminmäen kampus, auditorio, Paraatikenttä 5, Kouvola

Games as an art form

Lecturers: Juho Kuorikoski and Eero Tiainen.

On Juho Kuorikoski's lecture games are discussed as a distinct form of art which has it's own characteristics. Games are interactive pieces of art, which create meaning together with the players. Games also borrow from other forms of art, such as literature, film, painting, sculpting, architecture and theatre. 

Virtual reality technology - as well as art - can be seen as an extension of human consciousness and perceptions of reality. What are the new kind of art experiences in extended realities? What is possible through playfulness and immersion - what has not been possible in prior art and media forms? VR director Eero Tiainen's lecture explores the unique characteristics of gameful VR experiences with few case studies and the  design principles of artistic VR experiences. 

Luennon striimilinkki https://youtu.be/rQCm_tI-W8A

Time: Wednesday 11.5. at 17.30─19.00
Location: Kouvolatalo, Varuskuntakatu 11, Honkasali

Games and making them as a form of self-expression, hobby and profession

Lecturer: Game researcher Annakaisa Kultima, unlike previous information Aki Raula has cancelled his lecture. As a substitute lecturer we have the Regional Artist of Games as Art, Jaakko Kemppainen.

In her talk, Dr. Annakaisa Kultima will shed light on the international movement of game jams as a vessel for the game industry’s needs for collaborative creativity, and the rise of arts and hobby games. This rich cultural fabric of game making events provides an interesting, as well as an alternative, lens to what game making is all about and how it impacts us all on a larger scale. Dr. Kultima claims that game jams are, and will continue to be, the most impactful movement of the modern era of game cultures. 

In his lecture, the Regional Artist of Games as Art, Jaakko Kemppainen, retrospectively goes through the backgrounds, actions and feelings of more than 20 years of his gaming career. A career that started as a passion and a hobby has included exploration in the space of possibilities and moments of happiness, but also numbing drudgery, adversity and feelings of despair. The key questions are the frenzy of creation and its maintenance in an extremely competitive and results-oriented industry.

Streamlink to the lecture: https://youtu.be/SIWq1MlVcv0 

Time: Wednesday 24.8. at 17.30─19.00
Location: Kouvolatalo, Varuskuntakatu 11, Honkasali

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