Within the space of a year and a half (2000-2001), Beate Geissler/Oliver Sann organized a series of LAN parties at their studio to which they invited “shooters“, players who were passionate about First Person Shooter games. They photographed players, always from the same perspective, and put them on video while they were playing against each other. Their body language, gestures and facial expressions mirrored the drama of the conflict.

Mutter Theresa, 90 and one of Deutsch’s gamers

Gamers, by Tod Deutsch, is another portrait of this so-called “sub-culture”, this time from the perspective of the LAN parties that, he writes, “resemble a cross between the rebellious bravado of a biker rally and the adolescent nerdiness of Boy Scout camp. ”

Robbie Cooper’s Alter Ego pictures show human players along with their avatar, the virtual characters they choose to be in online games and 3D worlds.

Seang Rak Choi = Uroo Ahs

Picture galleries: Mein Berlin (bottom of the page), BBC.

In 1994, Mariko Mori commented on this overwhelmingly male past time with Play with Me. The artist embodied a cyborg girl that seemed to have leeped into real life from video game and was standing outside an Akihabara game arcade. Another works from the same year raised similar questions about the cyborg phantasies from Japanese animes/video games and traditional female roles: In Warrior, the artist was armed with a sci-fi weapon. She standed inside the game arcade this time, observed by one of the players and ignored by another who chose to turn his back on her futuristic gun.

Play With Me

Other works by Mariko Mori: Wave Ufo,
Via Placebo Katz, Vvork, bbc, auto-universal and Medienkunstnetz.