Interference will be open to the public the following dates:

5 October, noon-4pm; 6 October, noon-6pm; 12 October, noon-6pm; 19 October, noon-6pm, 26 October noon-6pm.

Interference is a large-scale, physical game installation by architect Nathalie Pozzi and game designer Eric Zimmerman. It will be exhibited at Track 16 Gallery and is presented in partnership with LACE, USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative and IndieCade 2013, The International Festival of Independent Games. This presentation of Interference was initiated by former LACE Executive Director Carol Stakenas.

Interference is a strategic social game where you win by stealing from other players. Five suspended, super-thin steel walls dotted with organic patterns resembling cell tissues act as vertical game boards. The twist is that each turn you must steal a piece from another game going on between other players. While each game takes place in a local area of one of the walls, the games themselves can move across the walls – and games even collide with each other as they drift across the walls’ surfaces. Interference encourages players to negotiate, argue, and scheme with and against each other, across physical space, social space, and the spaces between games.

Originally commissioned by la Gaîté Lyrique, Paris, with milled metal panels manufactured by Caino Design, Italy, Interference won the Interaction Award at the IndieCade 2012 festival.

Interference will be installed at Track 16 Gallery, newly relocated to the historic Hayden Tract neighborhood in Culver City. LACE will be inviting several schools and local organizations to participate in especially designed “play sessions” throughout the course of the installation. The public is also invited to join in on the fun, with Interference open for public “play sessions” on the following dates and times:

Saturday, October 5, noon-4pm
Sunday, October 6, noon-6pm
Saturday, October 12, noon-6pm
Saturday, October 19, noon-6pm
Saturday, October 26, noon-6pm

Opening Reception Wednesday, October 2, 8:30 – 10:30pm

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Architect Nathalie Pozzi and game designer Eric Zimmerman have collaborated on a number of playable installations that have appeared in Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Moscow, Los Angeles, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Nathalie Pozzi is an architect, whose projects cross the boundaries of architecture, installation, and art, exploring the critical intersection of space, light, material, and culture. Her work includes contributions to the architectural studio Casagrande & Rintala, in projects like Bird Cage at Yokohama Triennale of Art and Installation 2001 at the Florence International Bienniale of Contemporary Art. She also works as a designer and production consultant for large-scale art installations. Currently she is completing a full renovation of a traditional mountain village home in the Italian Alps.

Eric Zimmerman is a game designer and a 20-year veteran of the game industry. Eric co-founded Gamelab, an award-winning NYC-based studio that helped invent casual games with titles like Diner Dash. Other projects range from the pioneering independent online game SiSSYFiGHT 2000 to tabletop games like the strategy board game Quantum and Local No. 12's card game The Metagame. He is the co-author with Katie Salen of Rules of Play and is a founding faculty and Arts Professor at the NYU Game Center.