Core Resident: Wargames Tactical Media Collective

The Wargames Tactical Media Collective is a collaboration between the new media artist collective the Plug-In Studio (Steve Ciampaglia + Kerry Richardson) and Eric J. Garcia. The Plug-In Studio collaborates with young people and families in a diversity of Chicago communities on projects that foster new literacies—media, coding, the internet, systems, data, interactivity, etc.— and facilitate community conversations centered around issues important to members of these respective communities. Eric J. Garcia is an artist who creates work in a variety of media, exploring his identity as a Chicano and a US military veteran, and critiquing the US government’s imperialist policies.

As CAD’s Core Residents exploring Contemporary Conversation, the Wargames Media Tactical Collective will facilitate workshops with teen artists from Pilsen and Little Village to discuss the role of the US military in their communities. The aggressive recruitment of Latinx teens by the military in the wake of 9/11 through the use of video games such as the Call of Duty franchise has led to an increase in Latinx individuals enlisting in the military, specifically the Army and Marines, the two branches of military most likely to participate in boots-on-the-ground combat and incur combat-related fatalities. Through the process of creating games, the teens will critique the video games used for military recruitment, explore the real-life consequences of serving and the role of the military in their communities, and examine their own feelings about being the target of military recruiters.

WEEKLY OFFICE HOURS:
Wednesdays, 5pm-6pm
CONTACT:
kerry@pluginstudio.net
PROJECTS: 
Long Time No See – Group Exhibition, Fall 2018