> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The UCLA Game Art Festival Returns with a Whimsical, Political Selection
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-ucla-game-art-festival-returns-with-hammer-museum/
- Published: 2017-11-13T22:10:43.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:11:33.000Z
- Description: Now in its fifth year, the UCLA Game Art Festival at the Hammer Museum explores the boundaries of contemporary gaming.
- Author: Matt Stromberg
- Tags: Art, Events, Hammer Museum, UCLA, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:30(2016, 2017, part 3)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/11/02-gecko-ridemption.jpg)

Theo Triantafyllidis & Alex Rickett, “Gecko Ridemption” (image courtesy the artists and UCLA Game Art Festival)

Over the past 40 years, video games have developed from a geeky pop culture obsession to a hybrid platform that brings together elements of technology, cinema, performance, music, and fine art. Now in its fifth year, the [UCLA Game Art Festival](http://festival.games.ucla.edu/?ref=hyperallergic.com) explores the boundaries of contemporary gaming with over 50 digital and tabletop games, performances, screenings, installations, and virtual and augmented reality experiences.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/11/04-the-game-the-game.jpg)

Angela Washko, “The Game: The Game” (image courtesy the artist and UCLA Game Art Festival)

Highlights include Angela Washko’s [*The Game: The Game*](http://angelawashko.com/section/437138-The-Game-The-Game.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)*,* based on [the artist’s extensive investigation into the toxic culture of pickup artists](https://hyperallergic.com/199218/what-happens-when-a-feminist-artist-interviews-a-pickup-artist/); [*Harold Halibut*](http://haroldhalibut.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), a game that resembles a whimsical stop-motion film; and [Viral](http://www.viralgame.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com), a NSFW send-up and celebration of internet culture, social media, memes, and porn.

The Board Game Lounge features a selection of analog diversions, curated this year by [Naomi Clark](http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/faculty/naomi-clark/?ref=hyperallergic.com), a designer and educator at the NYU Game Center. Titled [Systems of Struggle](http://festival.games.ucla.edu/?ref=hyperallergic.com#systems-of-struggle-exhibition), her selections focus on important and often dark historical episodes, from the Underground Railroad, to the Salem Witch Trials, to the War on Terror.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/11/01-future-ladies-of-wrestling.jpg)

Future Ladies of Wrestling (image courtesy the artists and UCLA Game Art Festival)

Alongside interactive exhibits, a live stage show will feature a three-hour program, including the [Future Ladies of Wrestling](http://futureladiesofwrestling.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (F.L.O.W.), who fuse GLOW’s theatrical camp with a radical feminist perspective, and a cage-match tournament of [Gecko Ridemption](https://theotrian.itch.io/gecko-ridemption?ref=hyperallergic.com), a “[rock-climbing, laser-blasting, stuff-barfing, sport-ish game](https://theotrian.itch.io/gecko-ridemption?ref=hyperallergic.com).”

**When:** Tuesday, November 14, 7–10pm  
**Where:** Hammer Museum (10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Westwood, Los Angeles)

*More info* [*here*](http://festival.games.ucla.edu/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*