Get in the game, Fortnite lovers!
Queens Museum hosts Systemic (il)logics: Cameron A Granger & Kara Güt in Conversation on Sunday, Jan. 12, at 6 pm.
It sounds simple, but Granger and Güt will chat in an artist-built Lego Fortnite playscape. The’ll discuss gaming architecture’s parallels to discriminatory urban design, modding as a mechanism of imagining beyond constraints, and defined systems of play. They’ll also expand on the constructed systems of power in Cameron A. Granger: 9999.
It’s free. To join, download Lego Fortnite or use YouTube Live. It’s also possible to tune in through Twitch.
Both Cleveland natives, Granger and Güt are currently In Situ Artist Fellows at the Queens Museum.
Granger was recently an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. His multimedia projects include “Everybody’s got a little light under the sun,” a free food-and-film program made in collaboration with Willowbeez Soul Veg and the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. He has also had solo exhibitions at No Place Gallery, Columbus (2022); Ortega y Gasset Projects, Brooklyn (2019), and Vox Populi, Philadelphia (2018).
Güt, who has an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, prefers image-based, digital media. Her work investigates the new shape of human intimacy formed by the internet lifestyle, constructed detachment from reality, and power dynamics in the virtual world.
Huh?
Sorry, but I grew up with a rotary phone, and modern technology is a bit confusing. What is Fortnite?
Released by Epic Games in 2017, Fortnite is an online video game that’s available in seven mode versions (i.e. Battle Royale, Rocket Racing, Ballistic, Sandbox). Versions allow for solo, dual, team, and unlimited member play. Storylines, cartoon-style graphics, and construction mechanics vary, but all versions share a general premise: Be the last person or group standing.
Incredibly popular, the brand has amassed hundreds of millions of players and generated more than $9 billion in revenue. It’s also won some of the industry’s biggest awards, including Best Ongoing Game by PC Gamer and IGN.
It’s on Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Images: Queens Museum (top); Fortnite (bottom)