Thursday, October 6th from 5-7:00pm
Located at the Harbor Islands welcome Center, 191 w Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110
Please join us for the inaugural reception of Harbor Islands, an arcade-style piece commissioned by artist Anthony Montuori. Harbor Islands is a working video game that plays itself based on weather data collected from the Boston Harbor Islands.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anthony Montuori is an artist who lives and works in Greater Boston. He is currently making video games that deal with a ‘post-recession’ malaise and existential dread. Through the seductive appeal of play, a seemingly optimistic, but ultimately defeatist attitude is revealed. The Adventures of Sisyphus has players push a boulder up a hill until they give up and walk away; Debtris is the classic game Tetris played for federal minimum wage to hypothetically pay off the artist’s student loan debt; Super Maria is an homage to the great Super Mario and his relentless attempts to collect coins, now used as a means to buy furniture and live out the life-expectancy of the player character to its inevitable end. Using the medium in as deadpan a way possible, Montuori works to position video games as an expressive platform for atypical work and to subvert the rich iconography so closely associated with gaming and its culture.
Click here to see more of Montuori’s work.
ABOUT THE ART AT THE HARBOR ISLANDS WELCOME CENTER
Boston Cyberarts, the National Parks of Boston, and Boston Harbor Islands Alliance have collaborated on an ongoing project to commission public algorithmic art for display on the LED screens at the park Welcome Center on the Greenway between Fanueil Hall and the Ferry Ticket Center on Long Wharf. Boston Cyberarts commissions algorithmic artists, asking them to write computer programs that will create real time generative art that will be constantly changing. This program ties into the innovative strengths of the Boston area, using digital art algorithms to heighten the interest in Boston Harbor’s history and natural complex ecosystems.
Click here to see past projects.
We are excited to be a part of ArtWeek Boston this year! Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by Citi Performing Arts Center, ArtWeek is an award-winning bi-annual creative festival featuring more than 150 unique, unexpected, and creative experiences that are participatory, interactive, or offer behind-the-scenes access to artists or the creative process.
