HOW 严肃游戏 | Jon Rafman：荣誉密码
严肃游戏
展期：2019年8月2日-11月2日
艺术家：阿莱克斯·马伊思(Alexis Mailles)、冯晨、哈伦·法罗基(Harun Farocki)、乔恩·拉夫曼(Jon Rafman)、肯特·希里(Kent Sheely)、陆浩明、陆明龙、马修·切拉比尼(Matthieu Cherubini)、佩恩恩、彼得·尼尔森(Peter Nelson)、吴其育
策展人：付了了
地址：昊美术馆（上海）三楼展厅6、7
Please scroll down for English version.
昊美术馆（上海）最新群展“严肃游戏”将于8月2日开幕。“严肃游戏”并不致力于强调“严肃”与“娱乐”的分野，相反，展览希望打破人们对游戏的刻板印象，在人与机器、现实与虚拟的边界已不复存在的当下，打开一个关于游戏讨论的政治纬度。
展览同时呈现一系列艺术家关于游戏的写作和创作手记，希望借此激发对电子游戏及相关议题的进一步思考和讨论。
本期文章《荣誉密码》为艺术家乔恩·拉夫曼 (Jon Rafman) 在创作同名作品期间的创作手记。
荣誉密码
乔恩·拉夫曼
2011年8月17日
在经营了50多年之后，唐人街游戏厅(Chinatown Fair)于2011年2月28日关闭，游戏玩家们至今仍会为此哀悼。众所周知的是，唐人街游戏厅是美国最后一批举办顶级比赛的游戏厅之一。在2009年的大部分时间里，我都在这个位于莫特街尽头的昏暗的街机厅中度过，这里曾是职业游戏历史上最强玩家的战场。
唐人街游戏厅，图片来自网络
Chinatown Fair Arcade, image from the Internet
游戏《街头霸王》(Street Fighter)发行十年后推出的《街头霸王4》（2009年）刚一上线，便引发了格斗游戏社区的短暂复兴。从那时起，我开始在游戏厅认识街机常客并进行每日的视频采访，让玩家们回忆他们在街机前的最佳时刻。同时，我还创立了一个备受关注的YouTube频道，那里的评论区成了游戏社区进行辩论的主要阵地。也正是在那一年我才了解到：要成为一名顶级的职业玩家，简单地掌握游戏的竞技技术是远远不够的；要在最高水准的赛事竞技，还必须拥有坚强的品格和对人类心理的深刻理解。我还认识到，职业玩家所获的成就仍归功于昔日经典原型传达的价值和美德：荣誉、尊重他人、追求卓越。即便受到时间和地域的限制，但最硬核玩家心里的成就感就是那般强烈，以至于让普通人望尘莫及。尽管没有任何东西能与击败一个有价值的对手、或与玩家自身达到过的至高声誉相媲美，但那种声名和胜利引发的高光时刻依旧短暂易逝。因此，这也是我了解到的游戏体验所固有的悲剧因素。
荣誉密码，2011
乔恩·拉夫曼
立体声单频道高清视频，13:59分钟
致谢艺术家与Sprüth Magers画廊
Codes of Honor, 2011
Jon Rafman
Single-channel HD video with stereo sound
13:59 min.
Courtesy of the artist and Sprüth Magers Gallery
我知道许多有名的玩家，但在那些传说般的人物里，没有人的名声能超越东海岸冠军艾迪·李(Eddie Lee)。艾迪被认为是“纽约式”(New York-style)玩法的先驱，而“纽约式”玩法则是“海龟式”(Turtle-Style)的变种。作为所有战斗形式中最令人沮丧的一种玩法，“海龟式”需要无限的耐心。它要求玩家玩零风险的游戏，与对手保持完美距离。这就意味着他要等待敌人犯错，从不主动出击，只是耐心地等待对手出错。当对手最终犯错时，就会受到玩家的惩罚。这就是艾迪认为的、他必须要传递的风格 —— 不是成为勇敢的、受人欢迎的、优雅的“快速推进式(Rushdown)”玩家，而是进行防御大师式的残忍计算，避开对壮观场景的全部渴望。艾迪故事的一部分吸引力在于：他突然神秘地在达到个人的巅峰时退出了比赛。有传言说，后来他继续运用那些技能成了一位成功的华尔街日间交易员。
荣誉密码，2011
乔恩·拉夫曼
立体声单频道高清视频，13:59分钟
致谢艺术家与Sprüth Magers画廊
Codes of Honor, 2011
Jon Rafman
Single-channel HD video with stereo sound
13:59 min.
Courtesy of the artist and Sprüth Magers Gallery
当我发现艾迪·李的传奇时，我确定自己找到了影片的核心。为了描绘花费时间去玩但因结果寥寥而遗憾、同时又怀念游戏快感之间的紧密关系，我整合出了三个观点：i）一个虚拟世界中的叙述者，回忆他作为职业玩家时的日子；ii）一个唐人街游戏厅的常客讲述他最棒的游戏经历；iii）游戏经典场景的截图。通过这种方式，《荣誉密码》得以在真实、虚拟、想象的空间和时间中穿行。
这部影片并没有采用把游戏视为一种逃避生活、参与暴力或具反社会倾向的流行观点，而是专注于玩家在艰难寻求成就的过程中体验到的纯粹快乐、竞技高水平比赛所获的兴奋感、由游戏赋予生活的意义，以及他们创造的社区。我们看到了一个职业玩家必经的心路历程：从他掌控一场比赛或击败一个竞争对手的荣誉时刻，到他意识到自己的光荣事迹很快就会被遗忘的绝望时刻。我们看到了他面临着一个所有人都要面临的问题：在一个历史和传统的意义越来越稀薄的世界里，我们该如何实现自我的救赎？我们又该如何构建一个连续的自我？
关于艺术家/作者
乔恩·拉夫曼(Jon Rafman)，1981年出生于加拿大蒙特利尔。他曾在蒙特利尔的麦吉尔大学学习哲学和文学，并获得了芝加哥艺术学院的艺术硕士学位。他的作品探索了技术对当代意识的影响，他融合虚拟世界的丰富语言创造了与当下紧密相关的诗意叙事。
拉夫曼的最期个展包括“精神旅行者(The Mental Traveller)”，摩德纳视觉艺术基金会（2018年）；“梦的日志16’-17’(Dream Journal 16‘-17’)”，柏林Sprueth Magers画廊（2017年）；“我有一万个复眼，每一个都被命名为痛苦(I Have Ten Thousand Compound Eyes and Each is Named Suffering)”, 阿姆斯特丹市立博物馆（2016年）；Westfälischer Kunstverein，明斯特（2016年）；蒙特利尔当代艺术博物馆（2015年）；The Zabludowicz Collection, 伦敦（2015年）。他的作品曾在著名的国际群展中展出，包括第58届威尼斯双年展（2019年）；沙迦双年展（2017年）；第9届柏林双年展（2016年）；第11届欧洲宣言展（2016年）；里昂双年展（2015年）等。
Serious Games
Duration: 2019/08/02 - 2019/11/02
Artists: Alexis Mailles, Feng Chen, Harun Farocki, Jon Rafman, Kent Sheely, Andrew Luk, Lawrence Lek, Matthieu Cherubini, Payne Zhu, Peter Nelson, Wu Chi-Yu
Curator: Fu Liaoliao
Venue：Gallery 6/ 7, 3F, HOW Art Museum, No 1, Lane 2277, Zuchongzhi Road, Shanghai
Serious Games, the coming exhibition of HOW Art Museum Shanghai, will be on view on August 2. Serious Games doesn't intend to make the distinction between "serious" and “entertainment”. On the contrary, the exhibition seeks to break the stereotypes surrounding videogames, trying to investigate videogames within the context of the current political dimensions where lines are blurred between machines and human beings, reality and virtuality.
The exhibition presents in the same time the writings of participating artists, intending to stimulate further the reflection and discussion on videogames and relevant topics.
Codes of Honor
Jon Rafman
Aug 17，2011
Chinatown Fair arcade closed down on February 28th, 2011, after over 50 years. Gamers are still in mourning. CF, as it was known, was one of the last video game arcades in America where one could count on finding top-level competition. I spent the better part of 2009 in that dingy, dim-lit arcade at the end of Mott Street, which was the battleground for the best players in the history of pro-gaming.
The first Street Fighter release in a decade —Street Fighter IV —just came out, sparking a short-lived renaissance in the fighting game community. I got to know the regulars at the arcade and began conducting daily video interviews, asking them to recall their greatest memories at the joysticks. I set up a YouTube channel, which was widely followed and the comment section became a major forum for debate in the community. During that year, I learned that to be a top-pro one could not simply master the technical aspect of the game; to compete at the highest level one needed to have a strong character and a deep understanding of human psychology. I learned that pro-gamers ascribe to the values and virtues of the classical archetypes of yore: honor, respect for the other, and excellence. Hardcore gamers have an experience of acheivement so intense that, although limited in scope and time, it is forever difficult to equal. Although nothing can rival the high they get from defeating a worthy opponent or the reputation during their reign, the fame is as fleeting as the high of the win. And so I learned of the tragic element that is inherent to the experience of video gaming.
I learned of many celebrated gamers but as legends go, no one topped Eddie Lee, the East Coast Champ. Eddie is recognized as the pioneer of the New York-style of gameplay, a variation of the “Turtle-Style.” Considered the most frustrating of all combat forms, turtling requires infinite patience. The strategy demands that one play a zero-risk game, keeping the perfect distance from the opponent, waiting for the enemy to make a mistake, but never taking the initiative, just waiting patiently for him to slip. When he finally does, he is punished. This was the style Eddie Lee felt he had to pass on — not the brave crowd-pleasing grace of the “Rushdown” fighter, but the calculated brutality of the defensive master that shuns all desire for spectacle. Part of the appeal to the story of Eddie Lee was that he suddenly and mysteriously dropped out of the tournament scene at the height of his powers. It was rumoured that he went on to use these very skills to become a successful Wall Street day trader.
When I found the legend of Eddie Lee, I found the center to my film. In order to portray the tension between regret for the time spent playing without a visible legacy and nostalgia for the thrill of the game, I integrate three perspectives: i) a narrator in a virtual world who reminisces about his days as a pro-gamer, ii) a Chinatown Fair regular who recounts his greatest memory, and iii) classic cut-scenes from the games themselves. In this way, Codes of Honor moves through actual, virtual, and imaginary space and time.
Rather than adopting the popular perspective on gaming as a way of escaping life, engaging in violence or being antisocial, the film focuses on the gamers’ pure joy in their hard-sought achievements, the thrill of high-level competition, the significance it gives their lives, and the communities they create. We see the journey of a professional gamer as he moves from the prized moment when he masters a game or defeats an arch-rival to the despairing moment when he realizes his legacy will soon be forgotten. We see him confront a question that faces us all: in a world where history and tradition mean less and less, how do we achieve redemption? How do we even construct a continuous self?
About the artist / author
Jon Rafman was born in 1981 in Montreal, Canada. He studied Philosophy and Literature at McGill University in Montreal and received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work explores the impact of technology on contemporary consciousness, incorporating the rich vocabulary of virtual worlds to create poetic narratives that critically engage with the present.
Rafman's recent solo exhibitions include The Mental Traveller, Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (2018), Dream Journal 16'-17', Sprueth Magers Berlin (2017), I Have Ten Thousand Compound Eyes and Each is Named Suffering, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2016), Westfälischer Kunstverein, Munster (2016), Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal (2015), and The Zabludowicz Collection, London (2015). His works have been featured in prominent international group exhibitions, including the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), Sharjah Biennial (2017), Berlin Biennial 9 (2016), Manifesta Biennial for European Art 11 (2016), Biennale de Lyon (2015) etc.
昊美术馆 HOW ART MUSEUM
昊美术馆（上海）
HOW ART MUSEUM (SHANGHAI)
昊美术馆（上海），图片©昊美术馆
昊美术馆（上海）是具备当代艺术收藏、陈列、研究和教育功能的全新文化机构，坐落于上海浦东，共有三层展览和活动空间，总面积约7000平方米，于2017年9月正式对外开放。昊美术馆首创“夜间美术馆”的运营模式，常规对外开放时间为周二至周五下午1点至夜间10点，周末及节假日开放时间为上午10点至夜间10点。此举能让更多观众在工作之余前来美术馆观展，昊美术馆也举办“国际策展人驻留项目”、“户外电影节”、“雕塑公园”等国际交流项目和户外活动，以此建立全新的艺术综合体和浦东新地标。
昊美术馆（温州）
HOW ART MUSEUM (WENZHOU)
昊美术馆（温州），图片©昊美术馆
昊美术馆（温州）延续昊美术馆（上海）的“夜间美术馆”运营模式，是浙江省首家"夜间美术馆"，常规对外开放时间为下午1点到夜间10点，周末及节假日开放时间将向前延长为上午10点至夜间10点。昊美术馆（温州）将持续为公众呈现丰富的公共教育及户外艺术项目，引领融合艺术、设计、科技的全新生活方式。
即将展出 Upcoming
昊美术馆（上海）
HOW ART MUSEUM (SHANGHAI)
正在展出 Current
昊美术馆（上海）
HOW ART MUSEUM (SHANGHAI)
昊美术馆（温州）
HOW ART MUSEUM (WENZHOU)