Angelina Jolie's Other Choice

What is the appropriate response to a celebrity making public the details of their private life - especially one who has been so outspoken of her right to privacy in the past?

Angelina Jolie's op-ed column for The New York Times, in which she announces and explains her decision to have a preventative double-mastectomy, is laudable for its candidness. And whilst the majority of responses have been supportive and impressed by her bravery the question hovers, unspoken, behind many of them: how does her fame impact motivations for speaking publicly about this?

Whilst it's true that Jolie's experience will be different (in some regards at least) to that of most women in the same position, to write off her story as inapplicable seems uncharitable. This is not a move calculated to draw attention to the actress but to the issue. It's commendable that a notoriously private individual is willing to expose herself in this way in service of increasing awareness of the possibilities of modern test methods and preventative measures. It is flawed logic to claim that it's only news because it's Angelina Jolie, when it is precisely her notoriety that she has leveraged. And to good ends.

Tate's Digital Strategy 2013-15

I've spent more spellbound hours at Tate Modern than any other gallery - with Tate Britain probably also in the top five - and this Christmas I was lucky enough to receive an annual Tate membership as a gift. One of my favourite Tate experiences is plugging into a major exhibition's digital guide and wandering the galleries at my own pace. Presented on a (disguised) iPod Touch, the multimedia guides are always put together with a lot of care and attention, and can really add a lot to your enjoyment and understanding of the work that you're seeing.

Tate recently published their digital strategy for the next three years. Subtitled 'Digital as a Dimension of Everything' it makes interesting reading as the organisation focusses on bringing a layer of interactivity to all of their activities.

At an immediate level it looks as though Tate also see the digital guides as a strength and will be making them available to smartphone users throughout the gallery without the requirement of hiring specific equipment. Section 3.1.3 of the document also indicates that omnipresent wi-fi throughout the galleries will make various other kinds of augmentation possible for visitors.

Throughout the strategy there is a commendable emphasis on blogging as a means of increasing the transparency of the galleries' workings. Many of the organisation's staff are encouraged to maintain a running dialogue which can only help to demystify the day-to-day activity of the Tate, and in doing so increase audience engagement. It's reminiscent of The Guardian's dedication to the same kind of openness with initiatives such as 'Comment is Free', and the 'Inside the Guardian' blog.

The move towards a democritised and polyphonic voice will doubtless be challenging for any institution with such high standards of attention to detail and quality of finish, but the results will likely be fascinating to those of us watching. And hand-in-hand with this increased institutional openness will come a commitment to more liberal licensing of Tate content.

Again, this is a commendable move which has the potential to increase Tate's visibility, likely starting with educational initiatives but also in arts-minded social media.

It's heartening to see organisations that understand the potential benefits of digital culture extend far beyond monetisation opportunities, and instead offer new possibilities that could re-shape how they are thought of, spoken about, engaged with, and connected to.

Year Walk

Swedish developers Simogo already had a track record of interesting iOS titles, including last year's Beat Sneak Bandit: an innovative platformer / rhythm-game hybrid which I put quite a few hours into. On the strength of that game I was likely to check out their next offering anyway, but when I heard that they were working on something to do with nordic folklore my interest was further piqued. 

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Kentucky Route Zero

Just spent an enjoyable hour playing through the first episode of Kentucky Route Zero, an episodic, indie point-and-click from Cardboard Computer. The game has a very deliberate pace, some really great writing, and a stylised argraphical presentation that does a lot with relatively little. Some of the smaller animations and transitions between viewpoints are particularly impressive.

Before picking it up I'd heard a few comparisons to Twin Peaks and there is definitely a Lynchian vibe to some of the writing, which is often just offbeat enough to be vaguely unnerving without tiliting towards fully sinister. There's humour too, and some innovative use of the dialogue tree dynamic that asks the player to make choices for both parties in a conversation, and in doing so really re-think their position as more of a director of the action than a controlling presence in what is ultimately a pretty linear narratve.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the writers and designers take this and how they innovate further on the concept of what a magical realist point-and-click might look & feel like. The release schedule is for a total of five episodes: the first available now, the second hitting in April and the final episode due in January next year. You can find the game on Steam or via the link above.

There is also a free companion piece, titled Limits & Demonstrations, available here, which will serve as a good introduction to the main game's mechanics and tone if you're on the fence.