The body of the gamer: game art and gestural excess

Where is the body of the gamer in game art? While game art explores the materiality of digital games through examinations of the glitch, and in-game performances, it is less successful in revealing or examining the materiality of the body of the gamer. This presents an interesting problem for game art because, since motion sensing technologies have been incorporated into gaming technology following the introduction of the Wii, the body has reached an unprecedented visibility in popular culture, and increasingly depictions of gaming make the body part of play by celebrating gestural excess. Game art is crucial for documenting the fleeting styles of gestural excess, styles that are both amplified by the proliferation of motion sensing technologies and the integration of gesture into gaming, and constrained by the ongoing processes of being absorbed into official practices of popular gaming culture and design. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.