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The Many (Unauthorized) Faces of Superman
Curator's NoteOK, so fans are able to use material culture in ways that often exceed, even occasionally transgress officially sanctioned uses. Superheroes are rich for these types of re-workings...
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Virtual Funeral Crashing
Curator's NoteWhile I show many short clips throughout the semester to my classes, no clip has perhaps elicited more divergent and emotionally invested responses than this one. This clip is just a...
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Playing with Peripherals
Curator's Note“It was an experience. How do we hold on to the experience?” These words – spoken by Ouisa Kittredge near the end of John Guare’s play Six Degrees of Separation – prompted me to start a...
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“The Legend of G.I. Joe…New from Marvel Comics!”: The Toy as Comic Book on...
Curator's NoteAlthough toy maker Hasbro had advertised G.I. Joe on television since the inception of the product line in the 1960s, commercials like these in 1982 were the first to give life to the toy...
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“‘Save Me Captain Stubing! Skeletor and The Lone Ranger have joined forces...
Curator's NoteThis is very preliminary, so I’d appreciate suggestions on earlier known examples or other approachesThere are countless anecdotes of children combining discrete toy brands into shared...
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Feeling Games
Curator's NoteWe’ve probably all experienced a variety of emotions when playing video games: euphoria, frustration, determination. With their immersive capacity and interactive play, video games are...
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Never Name a Chocolate Bunny: The Not-Just-Foods of Childhood
Curator's NoteAs with Proust’s madeleine, food plucks from us responses we can’t foresee. In Chocolate Bunny, the first video by Dutch artists Lernert & Sander, we enter a cheerful world of...
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Democracy Play: VOTE!!!
Curator's NoteIn this trailer for “VOTE!!! The Game” we witness then candidates President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney slug-it-out on the White House lawn, in the oval office, and on a debate stage,...
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Lighting a Fire: A Dark Room
Curator's NoteWhen teaching games studies classes, I am frequently asked to identify my favorite game. Although never an easy question to answer, A Dark Room (Doublespeak Games, 2013) is often the...
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