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Many ambitious and experimental game forms don't fit into the digital download or retail distribution channels that support so-called “traditional” video games. Instead, these games are supported by a new global movement in video game curation. This special edition of the Video Game Art Reader features an international collaboration of video game professionals working together to create a resource for game exhibition organization, design, and curation. Professionals, artists, and others who organize and curate video game exhibitions and events act within a rhizomatic network of methods, missions, and goals. They establish organizations like galleries, collectives, and non-profits. Methods of sharing video games as critical cultural phenomena continue to evolve and expand. Conceived during the first meeting of GAIA (Game Arts International Assembly), the Game Art Curators Kit documents and shares the collective experience of an international network of video game curators and organizers. Sharing practical tips on everything from accessibility to preservation, the book also serves as a guide to support a new global movement in video game curation.

The inaugural issue of VGAR celebrates video game culture as inclusive and global. Opening with an interview with the art director of the first independent Cuban video game, Savior, while the following essays from art historians, literary theorists, game designers, artists, educators, museum curators, and programmers all engage with video games as an important part of the global art landscape. Each engages with what makes good game art with special attention to the transnational cadre of gamers that play them. Contributions by Jesse de Vos, Jacob Euteneuer, Monica Evans, Tiffany Funk, René Glas, Eddie Lohmeyer, Evan Meaney, Kieran Nolan, Josuhe Pagliery, Sercan Şengün, Teresa Silva, Christopher W. Totten, and Jasper van Vught.

This volume of VGAR critically analyzes video game art as a means of survival. Though "survival strategy" exists as a defined gaming genre, all video games--as unique, participatory artworks--model both individual and collaborative means of survival through play. Video games offer opportunities to navigate both historical and fictional conflicts, traverse landscapes devastated by climate change or nuclear holocaust, and manage the limited resources of individuals or even whole civilizations on earth and beyond. They offer players a dizzying array of dystopian scenarios in which to build and invent, cooperate with others (through other players, NPCs, or AI) to survive another day. Contributors show how video games focus attention, hone visuospatial skills, and shape cognitive control and physical reflexes and thus have the power to participate in the larger context of radical, activist artworks that challenge destructive hegemonic structures as methods of human conditioning, coping, and creating. Contributions by Anna Anthropy , Andrew Bailey, Michael Anthony DeAnda, Luisa Salvador Dias, Tiffany Funk, Elizabeth LaPensée, Treva Michelle Legassie, Michael Paramo, and Martin Zeilinger.

This special edition of the VGA Reader, guest-edited by Christopher W. Totten and Enrica Lovaglio Costello, focuses on the connections between video games and architectural design. Each of the essays in this volume engages in critical investigations that reveal how game spaces evoke meaning, enhance game narratives, and explore unconventional themes. Contributions by Christopher Barney, Enrica Lovaglio Costello, Ross De Vito, Chanelle Mosquera, Zack Ragozzino, Gabriella Santiago, Bobby Schweizer, Christopher W. Totten, Dr. Zöe J. Wood, and Robert Yang.

This volume of VGAR critically analyzes video game art as a means of survival. Though "survival strategy" exists as a defined gaming genre, all video games-as unique, participatory artworks-model both individual and collaborative means of survival through play. Video games offer opportunities to navigate both historical and fictional conflicts, traverse landscapes devastated by climate change or nuclear holocaust, and manage the limited resources of individuals or even whole civilizations on earth and beyond. They offer players a dizzying array of dystopian scenarios in which to build and invent, cooperate with others (through other players, NPCs, or AI) to survive another day. Contributors show how video games focus attention, hone visuospatial skills, and shape cognitive control and physical reflexes and thus have the power to participate in the larger context of radical, activist artworks that challenge destructive hegemonic structures as methods of human conditioning, coping, and creating.

Zoe Smith is flailing in her career as a professional surfer on the WSL (World Surf League)... as well as in her relationship with Derek. She needs to make a change. But what? Stuck in a funk, she heads home to Australia at the end of the competitive season, uncertain of her future. Will the end of her relationship also signify the end of her career? With the help of a best friend, a boy crush, a strange encounter with an angel, and some much-needed soul-searching, she finds herself on a magical journey out of the darkness and into the light... in surfing and in life.

Bobbing alongside Margery Kempe—an illiterate medieval mystic who dictated the first autobiography in English—the ragged voice of Cry Baby Mystic finds itself drawn into strange predicaments that are not its own and ferried into abandoned spaces by the gearing of stardom and shame. The revolving sentences overheard by the reader--a muffled chorus of Brechtian aftershocks--survive only as traces of sorrow now craved by all who have known it: sound gossiping the unsound, the excess of the pilgrim. A person climbs out and never comes home.

For African American (AA) male musicians, the road toward career advancement in the entertainment industry is particularly arduous. Despite many difficulties on the journey to career success, the history of gospel, R&B, jazz, and funk music is evidence that many AA male musicians find their way to develop and advance their careers. Many AA male musicians find career development and advancement opportunities through religious and sacred institutions. However, the journey to become a professional musician for AA males is fluid and not formalized causing ambiguity in the steps taken to enter this career field and sustain growth in a rapidly changing music industry. There is an absence of professional training opportunities that focus on enhancing employability skills for musicians which contributes to the lack of support musicians receives to overcome obstacles that barricade career development and advancement in an unstructured workforce. The purpose of this study was to explore factors that impact career resilience and adaptability during career development and advancement for independent AA male musicians who work in a free agency workforce. The study explored resiliency and adaptability constructs such as survival, initiative, recovery, preparation, and thriving through a conceptual filter that sifts through individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural factors that may influence the growth and advancement of the AA male music careers. This study was guided by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (VST) as the conceptual framework and Career Construction Theory (CCT) as the theoretical framework to investigate the career development of AA musicians. A pragmatic qualitative research design was used as the strategy of inquiry for this study to intentionally employ specific data collection methods attending to the account of events and experiences that have shaped career behaviors, daily work related tasks, interactions within specific environments, and employment transitions or intentional involvement in career building activities of 15 AA male musicians. The musicians in the study proposed individual, interpersonal, sociocultural factors, and career self-management behaviors that impact career resilience and adaptability. The findings were discussed within the context of the research questions and implications and recommendations for practice, research, and policy were offered.

This is a book of haikus for the SoulPeople. The SoulPeople are people with funk, confidence, and music in every breath. Enjoy these poems.

Zoe Smith is flailing in her career as a professional surfer on the WSL (World Surf League)...as well as in her relationship with Derek. She doesn't like the person she's become and needs to make a change. But what? Stuck in a funk, she heads home to Australia at the end of the competitive season, uncertain of her future. Will the end of her relationship also signify the end of her career? Determined to get to the root cause of her drama she realizes it's time to face her 'self' and make some difficult decisions. With the help of a best friend, a boy crush, a strange encounter with an angel, and some much-needed soul-searching, she finds herself on a magical journey out of the darkness and into the light... in surfing and in life. If you liked Eat, Pray, Love, then you'll love Surfacing. REVIEWS "It's the Eat Pray Love for surfers!" - Liz Davison, Editor of surfsirensonline.com "Surfer Girls Kick Ass is an inspiring book that will open your eyes, capture your heart and expand your mind to new colorful horizons. Whether you are an avid surfer or ready to pick up your first surfboard, this book will empower your inner surf goddess & guide you to ride the wild swells of life with complete grace and beauty. Only a surfer knows the feeling...and Manchester showcases every aspect of why females & the passion of surfing dance together so incredibly." - Mary Osborne, Professional Surfer and Owner of maryosbornesurf.com Surfer Girls Kick Ass is an amazing reminder of what can happen when we trust ourselves, dive into life head first and understand that life is about the journey, not the destination. A crazily relatable and inspiring story that caused me to reflect on the concept of courage and how I can relate it to my own life." - Ruby Meade, Owner of thesurfbox.com "Surfer Girls Kick Ass is a playful and compulsive read. As the main character, Zoe, explores her own self-discovery, the reader is motivated to do her own self-reflection. With surfing at the heart of the story, it captivates and inspires on many levels." - Alexa Hohenberg, Owner of stillstoked.com "Finally a book that I don't want to close! Surfer Girls Kick Ass is one of those books you are afraid to finish reading because it's too good to be over." - Janine Reith, Owner of wmnsurfmag.com