(sp)infocalypse

For most of my life, I never considered myself ‘a gamer’, which is to say, ‘gamer’ has connotations of Really Enthusiastic People Who Rule Deathmatches. Sure, I’m the same age as video games, and so gaming history and my own history run parallell. Video games are just a thing, like everything else. I game, my parents and in-laws game, and naturally, my kids game.

Of course, in the past few years, that’s changed. ‘Changed’ to the point that it’s a new field with connections to dozens and dozens of areas of expertise and understanding.

A project I’ve been working on a bit under the radar (for reasons that it’s just not mainstream enough to prattle on about for days on end) is a dystopian science fiction work, particularly of the cyberpunk/infopunk genre (it might be old fashioned, but damn if it isn’t yet MORE FANTASY WIZARDS SORCERY).

My approach has been unorthodox– the notion of writing a novel seems so permanent and linear, especially in this world that’s so rich, non-linear and diverse with its implementation.

In doing so, I’ve found that tremendous periphery has emerged during research. I’ve spent countless hours attempting to understand military structures, urban design, architecture, system failures, architecture, ecological hazards, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and other forms of technology not yet invented.

In a way, it makes sense. My career started (and has remained) in the world of design– graphic design, visual communications kind of design– and has seemed to progress systematically throughout multimedia, internet publishing, product design and other multi-disciplinary spaces.

The intersection of all of these things confounds me. Lately, I’ve taken deep interest in the latest installment of Israel-Palestine warfare, complete with the normal sympathy for people caught in the crossfire, complicated by the aesthetics and functionality of destruction and death (hey, I’m into dystopias, I’m *supposed* to study those things).

Unlike many of my digital-only peers, I adore the intersection between the analog and digital, including the merging of the two, and the logical extension of potential total system shutdown. All that social media expertise means precisely jack shit when someone decides to take out cell towers and data centers. You will be alone and confused and probably starving, much like those in a place like Gaza.

That’s where things like eco-friendly initiatives and sustainable power come in to play, which basically boil down to a few parts: making your output smaller (ideological), generating your own energy (functional), and not having to spend more money than you have (fiscal).

That’s where things like architectural survival in a destroyed environment come in. Mad Max might be the movie, but the Middle East is the real life soundstage. Can ruins be sustainable? Can ruins be *beautiful*?

Building a virtual city is one of the most difficult intellectual projects I’ve engaged in– for I’m blessed with an unfair and god-like power that doesn’t exist in reality. I can move entire city blocks with a click of the mouse. When I get stuck, I examine cities big and small, in the heart of the world and the outskirts.

And when I’m all done with that, I dig for answers and hypotheses about a world where smart machines and smart information agents are available 24/7, anywhere in the world. I ponder if we are new breeds of humans–software cyborgs, if you will– that exist above the average population.

And to think it started with games, those alleged child-like delights for so many. I never wanted to be a game developer, nor a writer– nor would I have thought that I’d be digging so deeply into worlds completely foreign to me.

Perhaps it’s just part of the new programming we install into ourselves– and no matter how weird it all is, it’s happening in real time.