EVENT: MICROGAMES WORKSHOP (NOVEMBER 13 2019)

On November 13, Paolo Pedercini aka Molleindustria will lead a workshop on creating microgames for the students of the Master of Arts in Game Design at IULM University. Participants will be asked to design non digital games that can be played with little or no props, and can be described with a concise ruleset (less than 800 characters). The workshop takes place during GAME CONTEXTS, one of the Program’s core courses. It is also open to alumni of the M.A. Program (to enroll, please RSVP at least three days in advance).

Paolo Pedercini is an Associate Professor in Carnegie Mellon's School of Art, where he teaches courses related to Animation & Special Effects and Game Design. He is a game developer, artist and educator. At CMU he teaches experimental game design, creative coding, and animation. He was born in Italy and migrated to the United States in 2007 to study integrated media arts at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Paolo’s artistic practice deals with the relationship between electronic entertainment and ideology. Working under the project name “molleindustria” he produces videogames addressing various social issues such as environmental justice (McDonald’s videogame, Oiligarchy, Phone Story), religion (Faith Fighter) and labor and alienation (Every Day the Same Dream, Unmanned, To Build a Better Mousetrap). Molleindustria obtained extensive media coverage and critical acclaim while hopping between digital art, academia, game industry, media activism and Internet folk art.

In addition to his studio practice, Paolo advocates for independent and socially conscious gamemaking, within and without artistic contexts. He lectured in a wide range of venues, from the oldest squat in Rome to the venues like the Game Developer Conference, the Digital Games Research Association, Ars Electronica, The Centre Pompidou, and Cabaret Voltaire.

Although his work exists primarily online, it has been exhibited internationally at festivals, galleries and museums including the Sundance Festival, the EMP Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Hammer Museum, Games for Change, Gwangju Design Biennale, Indiecade, FILE Brazil, LABoral, and ZKM.

This workshop is based on Experimental Game Design, a course that Paolo teaches every fall at Carnegie Mellon University.