Pole Position

Posted on | January 30, 2010 | No Comments

As part of the Artwars project during my stay at De Fabriek i have been working on the installation “Pole Position”. A game installation that uses a reallife motorized maquette as its environment. The installation is based on the Atari game “Pole Position”, see an original screenrecording here.

Pole Position is a racing video game released for the Atari in 1982. In this game, the player controls a Formula One race car.
Pole Position was the leading game in arcades worldwide due to its relatively realistic graphics for the time. The game popularized the use of sprite-based, pseudo-3D graphics with its “rear-view racer format”—where the player’s view is behind and above the vehicle, looking forward along the road with the horizon in sight—which would remain in use even after true 3D computer graphics became standard for racing games.

In this installation, users control the game from within a small space: They race against the clock and try to avoid bombs that are thrown at them.
The background is a realtime recording of the installation on the other side of the small space, where other visitors can be seen and they can influence the game.

Here is the setup file of the installation (click to enlarge):

I will be using Flash, XML, MaxMsp/Jitter, Electronics, Paper, Glue & Paint ^_^

Marieke Verbiesen is voor de periode december/januari uitgenodigd voor een solo expositie in De Fabriek. Zij is in 2001 afgestudeerd aan de kunstacademie in Den Bosch met als richting ruimtelijk en andere media. Maar gaande weg haar loopbaan werd haar werk steeds meer digitaal ze maakte animaties en ontwierp computerspellen. Met “PolePostion” vervult Marieke de behoefte om haar werk uit de virtuele computer wereld te halen en weer terug naar het drie-dimensionale wereld te brengen.

Comments