Apollo and Dionysus at Play

Apollo and Dionysus at Play Dan Dixon Digital Cultures Research Centre | Pervasive Media Studio University of the West of England Thursday, 25 February 2010

• Where Caillois went wrong • Nietzsche, Dionysus and Apollo • New phenomenological approach • Conclusions Thursday, 25 February 2010

Roger Caillois Thursday, 25 February 2010

ludus ilinx mimicry alea agon paidia Thursday, 25 February 2010

For it is only as an aesthetic phenomena that existence and the world are externally justiﬁed. - Nietzsche - The Birth of Tragedy Thursday, 25 February 2010

Nietzsche Thursday, 25 February 2010

Apollo and Dionysus Thursday, 25 February 2010

Dionysian Apollonian • physical • cognitive • ecstatic • individuating • chaotic • understandable • intoxicated • illusions • music • visual arts • dance • narrative Thursday, 25 February 2010

play games Thursday, 25 February 2010

digital play games gamic Thursday, 25 February 2010

digital play games st s o e gamic m m nd ga a r ot he Thursday, 25 February 2010

Dionysian Apollonian • physical • cognitive • ecstatic • individuating • chaotic • understandable • intoxicated • illusions • music • visual arts • dance • narrative Thursday, 25 February 2010

playing gaming • physical • cognitive • ecstatic • individuating • chaotic • understandable • intoxicating • simulation • interaction • rules • rhythm • narrative Thursday, 25 February 2010

movement systems/rhizome rhythm understanding Lego Twirling Pervasive gaming RPGs PnP RPG sensation rhythm-action play FPS MMORPGs gamic Dancing Dionysian Apollonian Thursday, 25 February 2010

Mature manhood; that means to have found the seriousness one had as a child at play. - Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil Play is less the opposite of seriousness than the vital ground of spirit as nature, a form of restraint and freedom at one and the same time. - Gadamer - The Relevance of the Beautiful Thursday, 25 February 2010

autotelic play gamic Dionysian earnest Apollonian Thursday, 25 February 2010

movement systems/rhizome rhythm understanding autotelic Lego Twirling Pervasive gaming RPGs PnP RPG sensation rhythm-action play FPS MMORPGs gamic navigation Dancing Gambling Ballroom Stockmarket Dancing Sports Dionysian earnest Apollonian Gadamer de Certeau Thursday, 25 February 2010

Conclusions • Not everything is Flow • The Dionysian is intoxicating => addictive • New physical interfaces hold promise • Narrative is not the only route to ‘art’ Thursday, 25 February 2010

Summary • No essentialist ontology/taxonomy • Focus on the aesthetic experience • Gaming and Playing as separate but intertwined principles • Apollo and Dionysus are merely starting points • Experiences are not privileged Thursday, 25 February 2010

So tremendous is the power of the Apolline epic that it enchants the most terrible events before us with delightful illusion. - Nietzsche - The Birth of Tragedy Thursday, 25 February 2010

To be beautiful, everything must ﬁrst be intelligible. - Nietzsche paraphrasing Socrates - The Birth of Tragedy Thursday, 25 February 2010

Apollo and Dionysus at Play

by Dan Dixon on Feb 25, 2010

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Apollo and Dionysus at Play — Presentation Transcript