Paul Johnson ::
Red v. 2.0, Green v. 2.0, Blue v. 2.0, 2002

networked game consoles
styrofoam, mixed media
3 game consoles, 71 x 71 cm each, installation approx. 5,8 m
courtesy of Postmasters Gallery, New York

This installation is comprised of three distinct video games which play »against« each other.

The »Green« game console runs a game in which a boy and his sister compete with dogs for survival in a land fill. »Blue« is an urban puzzle of macromanagement. »Red« is a simulation flight of the Mars global surveyor satellite.

In addition to maintaining its own world, the game consoles aquire resources from each other over a network. The revenue and food generated by scavenging the landfill, for example, might be translated into »Blue«''s urban budget... whereas the global surveyor may "steal" the city's »happiness rating« or spending in order to improve itself. In short, the games draw on each other in a way which is not immediately appearant. Over time the games will negotiate a relationship of their own making; a relationship that even I, the programmer, cannot anticipate.

- Paul Johnson -