Gameface by Studio Kinglux
Gameface Introduction “Gameface”. A description found on an internet chat forum that describes the look of intense concentration on a person playing a video game. Perfectly, it summed up the collection of potraits that Studio Kinglux had been gathering for some time. Up until that point we had been inspecting the vague, blank, expressions of gamers in a kind of narcissistic feedback loop. We had been staring at a computer screen, looking at people, staring at computer screens... that we had been observing in the first place. The name ‘Gameface’ helped us to categorise this collection and put it into context. These are the expressions of people locked into digital combat, unleashing pixellated sorcery and solving abstract, geometric puzzles. They are the facial postures when the mind is consumed with split second decisions that result in (virtual) life and death outcomes on a constant basis. As the computer processes millions of mathematical equations every second to deliver an immersive experience displayed on-
screen, one can’t help but think the players look underwhelmed. Whilst the fantastic levels of detail in the games deliver binary-enhanced endorphin surges the result is a blank expression to the outside world. That’s not to say that gaming is a solitary experience. Indeed, all the pictures taken in this book were gleaned from public gaming arenas and arcades. Regularly, modern video games are gaudy worlds inhabited by hundreds of thousands of players globally. It’s just when the pictures are scrutinised, rarely does there seem to be much connection with the real world, flesh-and-blood humans positioned alongside each other. The headphones from the machines further drown out any external sonic distractions. When so much of communication is composed of subtle body language, is it any wonder that the most significant theme to the majority of video games is the base instinct – kill or be killed? Remove the vital nuances of interpersonal communication and you are left with only crude systems for discourse. The video game ethos of
high score through the defeat of others is like the ego in its most primitive form. And what to make of the other curious constant throughout this book? Besides the vacant stares, what is the meaning in the recurring gesture: the index finger touching the face? Is it a subconcious need to touch something real, when the other hand is directing an avatar through an electronic reality? Could it just be a simple – yet private – personal touch, inadvertantly made public? Is it the result of the mind, deep in digital illusion, fooled into feeling alone in a crowded space? In keeping with the video game tradition of faster, more direct messages and sensations, perhaps it is time to stop theorising and get to the action. Which is why, when all is considered the only real description neccessary for this book can be condensed into eight letters: “Gameface”.
Words and photographs Tony Hill for Studio Kinglux www.kinglux.co.uk
Studio Kinglux Trends! We love them!
Clients! They love us!
Contact us!
That’s not to say we trawl obscure websites looking for rare trainers or slavishly follow the lines when cutting our hair.
Here’s an (incomplete) list of some of the people we have done work for:
Maybe we can work together on an idea or a project you have in mind?
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Rather we are more inspired by the people-science of changing tastes and thoughts. Idea viruses! That’s how we see them. We study them and grow ever more fascinated by what we find and how they spread. Sometimes they make us happy, sometimes we laugh at them. Sometimes they are just downright bizarre and we pretend we never had to notice them. But there is usually some reason for their existence and they often serve some bigger purpose. We know that. We’re not scientists, we’re creative types. So, we use all our knowledge to help our friends and clients express themselves in someway which we hope will be exciting and relevant. From photoshoots to trend reports, magazine articles to in-house consultancy, Studio Kinglux turns our inspiration into your direction.
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and our travels have taken us to Berlin, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Rekjavik, Stockholm, London, Bratislava, Prague, New York, Paris and Oslo to comment on local fashion scenes.
+44 (0) 7980 640 418 www.kinglux.co.uk
© This book is copyright 2009 Studio Kinglux. All rights reserved.