Mollye Bendell

Reverting from game-play to primal notions of playfulness, this series ignores the goal of any given game to look at the moon. Still, the images are the product of a kind of quest. “Does a video game have an image of the moon in it?” is not a viable search engine query, so moons are hunted using strategy guides and long-play videos. The games are then played to whatever point the moon appears. Clear images depend on negotiating camera controls, hiding interface clutter, and avoiding or killing game-play elements that threaten the shot. In Perfect Dark, for example, the moon is most visible from an upper floor of dataDyne, so the player must protect the doctor from Cassandra while navigating the building. The game becomes an anti-game as the player moves through many worlds to stand still under the moon.