Design as Drag: Performing Identity via Autobiographical Game Design

Watch Session:

Abstract:

I’m proposing a post mortem of my MFA thesis, REVISIONS, a series of autobiographical, metafictional vignette games about growing up as a gay Korean-American game designer. I hope to explicate on how designing a game about my own life reinforced the idea that identity is largely performative. The talk will reflect on the individual design decisions I made and how those manifested in a game that’s in parts sincere and completely opaque. Lastly, I will discuss the unique experience of an designer watching players play as the author, including the awkward negotiating of self vs. artificial self.

Bio:

Steve Cha is an interactive media and game designer based in Los Angeles, California. He recently received his MFA at the University of Southern California.

www.stevencha.com