Game Play Airlines/ Aesthetics of Games
Game Play Airlines is a collaborative project between artist Jérémie Cortial and me. The manga, which depicts the theory of “Aesthetics of Games,” from an artistic point of view, is put on paper planes and will be flown around the world.
This text is intended to note the process of generating the project. It's because the project does not only aim to create artworks, but also to create opportunities for encounters and new discoveries between people.
Art is, I believe, not only to be seen in museums or exhibition spaces, but also to be discovered in your daily practices such as reading and thinking or chatting with friends. I hope to explore such experiences with you.
Project “Aesthetics of Games”
“Aesthetics of Games” is a project I conduct, which considers the theory of games/ playing from the perspective of art practice. Since 2023, I have organised workshops in Hamburg, Osaka and Tokyo with the aesthetician and game study scholar Hiroshi Yoshida and Jérémie Cortial, an artist based in France. Now they are my research partners.
We, a scholar, an artist and a curator exchanged ideas about games, play and art with the audience. Through the process, we became keenly aware of the versatility of the theories drawn from them, that is, their connection to everyday life. Intending to share the abstract theory of “Aesthetics of Games” with a wider audience by drawing and explaining it in a familiar and attractive way,
Jérémie was entrusted with the mission to create the work. If researchers write to think, he is an artist who can draw to think.
This is how the Game Play Airlines project was developed. Of course, Hiroshi is involved as a supervisor/ character.
Beginnings: paper planes as a medium
It is April 2024 and we were walking through the streets of Berlin at our wits’ end. Jérémie has been invited to participate in the annual “art bit” games and art exhibition in Kyoto this summer. However, it was unlikely for him to recieve enough budget to travel from Europe to attend the exhibition.
“If there is no money, I can't fly to Japan... I've no choice but to fly paper planes…!" he said, half-jokingly, but then the idea hit us.
Take paper planes as the media.
Originally, my “Aesthetics of Games” project was supposed to be text + illustrations printed on paper and placed discreetly at a corner of the exhibition space, but we took this oportunity to turn it into a work of art.
The plan: write/ draw an explanation of the theory of “Aesthetics of Games” on a paper plane. Let the folding lines be the frame layout of a Manga strip. The simple act of folding paper to make an aeroplane and then flying it is directly linked to the propagation potential of the medium. it is free to fly wherever the wind takes it. No other media deals with the ‘playing’ of games better than this. This also links in well with the theme of the exhibition “art bit #4” in Kyoto, “2D or not 2D,” which refers to the two-dimensionality of games and art.
Game Play Airlines, its birth
After a number of online meetings, the project began to take shape when Jérémie and I met in Paris in June. It has become obvious that the narrative illustrations, which were meant to introduce theory in an easy-to-understand way, were putting a strain on Jérémie, an artist who specialises in free style drawings. Moreover, Mangas have a panel layout. However, the artist, conversely, uses these restrictions as a springboard for his creativity.
Then the project concept of the Game Play Airlines came to mind:
An airline company that flies in the sky of play.
The purpose of participating in exhibitions varies from artist to artist, but for artists like Jérémie who value communication with other artists, the fundamental significance is not only to exhibit their work, but also to meet the people present, exchange ideas and share thoughts. Such experiences lead to new ideas and creations and give you a broad network of creators of other fields.
For example, he met Hiroshi in Hamburg and then critic/curator Daichi Nakagawa in Tokyo, which led to his participation in the “artbit” exhibition in Kyoto. Interaction with unknown people on a journey becomes a source of new creation - and it is also the case when playing a new game which brings you joy of discovery.
for borderless travel in the space for play
Welcome to the world of games and play!
This is how Game Play Airlines #001 was born. The first theme chosen was ‘What is a game?’ and the question ‘What is playing games’. Here are the essential features of the Manga.
Characters
Gozub, a coward ghost who failed to become a Pac-Man monster: a character in a game
Dr. Hiroshi, the game researcher Hiroshi Yoshida: a passenger playing with a Game Boy
Chienpo, Jérémie's avatar, a free-spirited and carefree dog: the pilot
Yuka-chan (me): the flight attendant
Gozub, a coward ghost in the world of games, asks Dr. Hiroshi ‘Hey, what is a game?’ In answer, Dr. Hiroshi teaches Gozub a new way to play…
Let's take a look at Chienpo, the dog who is also the avatar of Jérémie, the pilot of Game Play Airlines.
Chienpo was born in Sapporo in 2005, when Jérémie was participating in S-AIR, an artist-in-residence in Sapporo. A performance was planned to take place there, but he felt unsure of what to do in front of people... so he made a mascot for the occasion. The friendly, ‘Yuru-chara’ look was well received by the audience, and wearing the costume in this way made him feel at ease, as if he could move and be bold in another way.
Since then, Chienpo has been traveling the world along with Jérémie.
Chienpo, a guide to the future, La motte Cervolex, 2020 (right)
In 2015, Chienpo was reborn as a long-nosed, sci-fi futuristic dog. He even guides Jérémie around with his sharp nose. If something looks interesting, he approaches without looking aside. His curiosity gets the better of him and he is often out of control. Especially when he starts drawing, he can't stop..!
The avatar born from his own hands sometimes exceeds reason and leads to an unconscious flow of imagination. It's maybe a feeling similar to the “flowstate,” when a character you move within a game sometimes ‘moves beyond your intent.’
And now the controls of Game Play Airplanes are in Chienpo's hands.
His partner, Gozub, on the left, was too cowardly to pass Pacman's monster exam.
Finally, I note the text from the artbit #4 exhibition.
Why don't you take a trip on board Mr. Chienpo’s plane?
Game Play Airlines
Travelling brings encounters. The airplane, rapidly developed in the 20th Century, made it possible to meet people in distant lands and let us discover new cultures and new selves. Gaming from the 70s also used to be the gate of departure to a trip to a wonderful new world.
However, technological progress has pushed capitalism forward, and relegates travel to consumption and games to an industry.
Game Play Airlines is your gateway to a wild new world of ‘game and play’. Embark on a paper airplane and cross the border to unknown lands with different rules; Life-hack theories will accompany your journey.
Fuelled only by playfulness and imagination, how far can you fly?
What encounters will you have?
18.08.2024
Down load the PDF of Game Play Airlines #001 from COSMODULE:
* If you find a hack in the picture, we'll send you a sticker!
Jérémie Cortial
https://jercortial.com/
https://cosmodule.com/
X (Twitter) & Instagram: @jercortial
Hiroshi Yoshida
X(Twitter): @H_YOSHIDA_1973
artbit - Contemporary Art & Indie Game Culture - #4
curators: Daichi Nakagawa and Yasutaka Toyokawa
・"Aesthetics of Games" in Hamburg report in Japanese
・ IGN Japan"Aesthetics of Games" in Tokyo report in Japanese：
Metagame: lecture by Hiroshi Yoshida
Jérémie Cortial, Participate in Games by drawings
This project is supported by the research grant from the Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation in 2024. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for this precious opportunity to work on such an experimental project.
©️Yuka Tokuyama & Jérémie Cortial
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