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.
Culture jamming collective The Yes Men are holding their first exhibition of work, starting this November at the Miller Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University. While the group's work is not necessarily game-related, some may remember their spoofing of a serious games conference in the UK two years ago. Details on the exhibition after the jump.
The Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University presents the first major exhibition of artist-activist group the Yes Men. “Keep It Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with the Yes Men” will run November 14 through January 19, 2009. The exhibition heralds the release of the Yes Men’s feature-length film, debuting in spring 2009.
The Yes Men have gained international notoriety for exposing dehumanizing business practices by impersonating representatives from big corporations and government organizations such as Dow Chemical and the World Trade Organization. The Yes Men’s famed stunts include building an imitation George Bush homepage and posing as ExxonMobil representatives at Canada’s largest oil conference.
Co-produced by the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of the Arts, “Keep It Slick” exhibits the Yes Men’s work with elaborate costumes, slapstick videos, outrageous posters, props and new works. Though their sociopolitical pranks at conferences, on television and on the web have been widely publicized, they have never been presented on such a large scale.
"Keep It Slick" appears at the Miller Gallery as part of a national tour extending through 2010. The Yes Men will open the exhibition with a workshop on November 14. They will be giving an inside look into their methods and teaching people how to make a difference in big business practices.
The Miller Gallery is located in the Purnell Center for the Arts on Carnegie Mellon’s campus. The gallery, free and open to the public, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday. Visit www.cmu.edu/millergallery or www.theyesmen.org for more information.
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