Ian Bogost - Water Cooler Games - Shoot an Iraqi over the Internet

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Water Cooler Games served as the web's primary forum for "videogames with an agenda" — coverage of the uses of video games in advertising, politics, education, and other everyday activities, outside the sphere of entertainment.

The site was maintained at watercoolergames.org from 2003-2009, where it was edited by myself and Gonzalo Frasca. It is now archived here in full.

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Shoot an Iraqi over the Internet

by Ian Bogost May 21, 2007

categories: Political Games

No, it's not what it sounds like. In this unusual exhibition by Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal, called Domestic Tension, website visitors can shoot a paintball gun at the artist. From his statement:

Bilal's objective is to raise awareness of virtual war and privacy, or lack thereof, in the digital age. During the course of the exhibition, Bilal will confine himself to the gallery space. During the installation, people will have 24-hour virtual access to the space via the Internet. ... Domestic Tension will depict the suffering of war not through human displays of dramatic emotion, but through engaging people in the sort of playful interactive-video game with which they are familiar.

The exhibition continues throughout May, and Bilal is keeping a daily video diary of his experiences.

(thanks to Devin Monnens)

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