Ars Virtua Artist-in-Residence program (AVAIR) announced on March 21, 2013, that R Yagiz Mungan has won the competition for a six week artist residency in the virtual environment / game space of Minecraft. Minecraft is a sandbox where creativity and ludology intersect in a highly social space rich with possibilities due to relative openness of the code and hosting options. The residency will culminate in an exhibition and opening in Minecraft and documentation in Minecraft and on the web.
Jurors were: Thomas Asmuth, Nina Colosi (Founder Streaming Museum), G. Craig Hobbs, James Morgan, Helen Thorington. Ars Virtua is sponsored by the CADRE Laboratory for New Media at San Jose University, New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., Turbulence.org and Streaming Museum.
AVAIR is an extended performance that examines what it means to reside in a place that has no physical location. The purpose of the residency is to reflect on the nature of the game environment and terrestrial world in the context of contemporary art.
Ars Virtua is keenly aware of the power of virtual worlds. The arts continue to shape our understanding of technologies, this residency targets both gamespaces and virtual environments as a place for emergent art, performance art, coded art and social experimentation. It is the purpose of this residency to give direct attention to the interrogation of the space, place, and metaphor. Residents will be encouraged to explore, experiment with and challenge traditional conventions of art making and distribution, value and the art market, artist and audience, space and place, data and reality.