Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space

This essay focuses on nomadism as a way of navigating and existing in virtual performance spaces, such as Minecraft. As nomadic thought is present not only in philosophy but also in art, we can assume that game play as performative action also has nomadic qualities. In my examples, the nomadic attit...

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Main Author: Marleena Huuhka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UArtPres 2020-08-01
Series:Symbolon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://uartpress.ro/journals/index.php/symbolon/article/view/103
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author Marleena Huuhka
author_facet Marleena Huuhka
author_sort Marleena Huuhka
collection DOAJ
description This essay focuses on nomadism as a way of navigating and existing in virtual performance spaces, such as Minecraft. As nomadic thought is present not only in philosophy but also in art, we can assume that game play as performative action also has nomadic qualities. In my examples, the nomadic attitude includes the non-human materialities in interaction with the player. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the nomad worker does not reproduce, he/she follows, embarking on journeys in both immobility and distance. The avatar/performer in Minecraft is such a worker, engaging in endless functionless labor, that in itself is creative and ever forward-striving and, therefore, mimetic. I discuss possible ways in which the nomadic approach practiced in performance studies could be applied to the study of video games as spaces of performance and what kind of perspectives on mimesis could be opened through this line of thought.
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spelling doaj.art-f1c82481fcc84ce684c589c7a468a0d82023-01-19T11:52:22ZengUArtPresSymbolon1582-327X2344-44602020-08-01172(31)3844103Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance SpaceMarleena Huuhka0University of TampereThis essay focuses on nomadism as a way of navigating and existing in virtual performance spaces, such as Minecraft. As nomadic thought is present not only in philosophy but also in art, we can assume that game play as performative action also has nomadic qualities. In my examples, the nomadic attitude includes the non-human materialities in interaction with the player. According to Deleuze and Guattari, the nomad worker does not reproduce, he/she follows, embarking on journeys in both immobility and distance. The avatar/performer in Minecraft is such a worker, engaging in endless functionless labor, that in itself is creative and ever forward-striving and, therefore, mimetic. I discuss possible ways in which the nomadic approach practiced in performance studies could be applied to the study of video games as spaces of performance and what kind of perspectives on mimesis could be opened through this line of thought.http://uartpress.ro/journals/index.php/symbolon/article/view/103nomadismmimesis
spellingShingle Marleena Huuhka
Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space
Symbolon
nomadism
mimesis
title Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space
title_full Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space
title_fullStr Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space
title_full_unstemmed Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space
title_short Vagabond Mimesis – Nomadic Wanderings Through "Minecraftian” Performance Space
title_sort vagabond mimesis nomadic wanderings through minecraftian performance space
topic nomadism
mimesis
url http://uartpress.ro/journals/index.php/symbolon/article/view/103
work_keys_str_mv AT marleenahuuhka vagabondmimesisnomadicwanderingsthroughminecraftianperformancespace