“Only a thoughtless observer can deny that correspondences come into play between the world of modern technology and the archaic symbol-world of mythology. Of course, initially the technologically new seems nothing more than that. But in the very next childhood memory, its traits are already altered. Every childhood achieves something great and irreplaceable for humanity. By the inter· est it takes in technological phenomena, by the curiosity it displays before any sort of invention or machinery, every childhood binds the accomplishments of technology to the old worlds of symbol. There is nothing in the realm of nature that from the outset would be exempt from such a bond. Only, it takes form not in the aura of novelty but in the aura of the habitual. In memory, childhood, and dream.
— Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project, convolute N
About Wiley Wiggins
(he/him)
Wiley Wiggins is an artist and researcher working with digital games and playful media. His multifaceted career includes roles as an actor, animator, interaction designer, and board member of the Juegos Rancheros arts nonprofit. During his time at Juegos Rancheros he produced the Fantastic Arcade international games festival in Austin, Texas.
Wiggins holds undergraduate degrees with honors in animation and design as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree in Media Art from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied as a resident of the UCLA Game Lab.
His speaking engagements include the Game Developers Conference (GDC), South By Southwest Interactive Conference (SXSW), International Game Developers Association Summit (IGDA), and the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts Conference (SLSA).
His current research/creation projects center around the topoi of the Dungeon, the Arcology and the Frontier in culture and as modes of world apprehension in digital games.
Education:
- M.F.A. in Media Arts, University of California- Los Angeles, School of the Arts and Architecture (2023)
Selected Online Editorial:
- Flat Journal, The Arcology Mode
Selected Installation/Performance:
- Doors/Mud Room
- Archon
- Shapes (and other Shapes) (With Everest Pipkin and The Octopus Project)
- Computer Chess
Selected game projects:
- Soccerthon88
- Dungeon Mode Kit
- Untitled Roguelike Prototype
- Grotto
- Obelisk
Selected Press:
- Austin American Statesman- Austin’s indie games fest stepping out of Fantastic Fest’s Shadow, October 20, 2018
- Vidvox Blog- The Fantastic Work of Wiley Wiggins, November 5, 2016
- Inverse.com- Inside Austin’s Weird and Wonderful Fantastic Arcade, August 23, 2016
- Motherboard- The Stinking Beauty of Barfcade, October 3, 2014
