This page contains links to articles, interviews, and videos that can be incorporated into your syllabus in preparation for an event or afterward for post-event discussion and research. Go to saic.edu/cate for detailed event information.
An Evening With Alan Kwan
Thursday, October 24, 6:00 p.m.
Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St.
Please note that All CATE events will have real-time captioning (CART). Hearing loops, wheelchair seating, and companion seating are also available at the Gene Siskel Film Center. For other accessibility requests, please visit saic.edu/access or write cate@saic.edu
Working at the crossroads of cinema and new media, artist and video game designer Alan Kwan creates immersive and enigmatic games designed to elicit feelings of heartbreak, anguish, fear, and the sublime. In recent years, he’s subverted the violent tropes of mass market games—war and apocalyptic landscapes—to explore the ways we make meaning of our lives. Kwan presents a hybrid talk and screening, followed by a live playthrough of the latest version of his award-winning game, Scent (2017–24).
Alan Kwan is an artist, game designer, and technologist based in Chicago. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been exhibited at Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, the 404 International Festival of Art and Technology in Rosario, and the Vector Game Art Festival in Toronto, among others. He’s received multiple awards for his projects, including the Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica for his ongoing game project Scent. His work has been critically discussed in various media including in WIRED Italia, Popular Science, the Boston Globe and on the Discovery Channel.
Where Stones Can Speak: Dramatic Encounters in Interactive 3-D Virtual Reality [Chapter]
Tamiko Thiel, Chapter Author | Pat Harrigan | Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives | 2009
Realtime Art Manifesto
Auria Harvey and Michaël Samyn, 2006.
Conversations at the Edge Lecture Recordings
Conversation at the Edge video recordings (2016–present.) Available with SAIC login credentials.