Opening remarks for Critical Proximity conference. See more at critical-proximity.com

1. Critical Proximity
Games Criticism Conference

2. Welcome!
Thanks to Mohammed Taher of music label Bravewave for
giving us a bit of funding.
Thanks to Meggan Scavio and Keri Schnakenburg of UBM
for giving us this great venue and all their help.
And big thanks to the volunteers and co-organisers:
B. Hoek, David Carlton, Jon Hamlin, Jordan Marshak,
Joshua Melnick, Mattie Brice, Morgan McCormick, Nicholas
Capozzoli, Onesimus Kain, Richard Terrell, and Robert
Yang

3. Criticism is a conversation

4. Criticism is a conversation

6. Bruno Latour “stinks”
“HE: — Woah… you are furious.
SHE: — Enraged rather, yes. And disgusted”
@rupazero

7. Dogmatic righteous anger
“What you mean by regaining a strong political
stand is nothing more than making you feel
good again among your like-minded political
buddies. That’s just as disgusting. This is
replacing politics with moralizing —or worse,
socializing.”

8. Reaching criticity
“SHE: - You have deprived yourself of any critical
edge!
HE: — ‘Critical’ is also the name of a state, in case you
forgot your physics. Make sure that issues reach
criticity, would not that be a better slogan?
SHE: — Do you, by any chance, claim to increase the
temperature of an issue without yourself being in any
way critical?”

9. Emotional criticism
“HE: — Do you, by any chance, believe that you
increase the temperature by simply feeling indignation
and sharing this indignation with your buddies? You
are confusing the subjective definition of critique with
its objective one. It’s the object itself, the issue at
stake, that has to be rendered critical.
SHE: — And that could be carried out in any emotional
state? Including quiet indifference to the solution?”

10. Turn up the temperature

11. Roundtables
Go to the roundtable discussions!
Room 301
Schedule at critical-proximity.com
and on your handout.
@rupazero