I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the heroic mythologies of great men (it’s almost always men) who, according to a certain type of biographer or historian, were singular geniuses who drove progress, change, innovation, and well often, ruin. Writer and Chair of Cinema and Media Studies in the Media School at Indiana University, Raiford Guins sure seems over that kind of storytelling too. Thank goodness.
In his latest work, King Pong: How Atari Bounced Across Markets to Make Millions, Guins takes a more expansive view of the often-told story of the history of Atari and its famous co-founder Nolan Bushnell. In this short but dense book he places the creation of Atari in the world of late 1960’s-early 1970’s Silicon Valley, tracing small innovations made by a number of different people and companies that led to the runaway success of Atari’s first game: Pong. By looking as Guins says “outside the screen” at physical cabinet designs, the coin-op industry, Silicon Valley machinations, and the odd touch of serendipity, he grounds the story of a famous brand in the time and place that helped bring it about. He also looks at how the success of the coin-operated version of Pong helped pave the way for the home entertainment systems found in just about every American household today.
A community of artists at the Fell Building
Nice Work hosts talk with Angela Caldwell, co-curator of the I Fell Gallery in downtown Bloomington. We learn about the unique spaces within this historic building and the events that center this corner in Bloomington’s Arts District. Built in 1930, the building served as Isaac Fell’s car dealership (hence the name I. Fell). At one point there was a Sinclair Gas station on site.
Puppies Puppies comes to town
Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo is a conceptual, performance and installation artist who goes by the name Puppies Puppies. She recently came to the Eskenazi Museum of Art to give a talk about her work.
In some ways, it was an ordinary artist's lecture, with images of her work projected on a screen while she spoke about context and process. The difference was that Puppies Puppies was dressed in a bush costume, covered in artificial leaves from the neck down, and she was reclining on an inflatable mattress, bathed in green light.
Kayte went to the talk and reported back to Tyler about some of the highlights.
You can learn more about Puppies Puppies on her instagram @puppiespuppesjade, or through Art21.
Bloomington International Film Festival - these guys screen
Nice Work Intern Jonah Ballard sits down with Kevin Weaver and Matt Rice, of the Bloomington International Film Festival (BIFF), to discuss the festival’s origins and how it has developed over its five-year lifespan.