A videogame cycle in five parts, exploring different manifestations of violence in a surrealist environment.
Stephen Lawrence Clark
Class:
Instructor:
A world of Police that have forgotten what, and why, they are policing.
Rooftop Cop is a collection of five endless vignette games and a 7-track album. The games are set on a loose metaphysical timeline in which the Cops slowly lose their way.
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AWARDS & PRESS:
Featured at FANTASTIC ARCADE in Austin Texas, 2014
Nominated for NUOVO, and Best Student Game, at the 17th Annual IGF Awards, 2015
Top 10 of 2015 – Giant Bomb, 2015
Strange Name, Strange Game – GameJolt, 2015
Player As Artist – KILL SCREEN Magazine, 2015
Ritual Manifestations – KILL SCREEN Magazine, 2014
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Rooftop Cop – Main Site
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I: A Proud History
” In which crime is found. “
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II: Capture the Flag, for One
” In which your surroundings do not have you in mind. “
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III: The Datamines
” In which anything could be evidence. “
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IV: God Bles Everyone
” In which you can’t turn, can’t see the bottom. “
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V: Palace of the Organizer
“ -,` – _ `/ . . “
(in collaboration with Zeke Virant)
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ARTIST STATEMENT
“Police”, conceptually, have always existed in some capacity or another and in nearly all cultures; humans empowered by a system with the ability to threaten or use violence as a means of enforcing that system. Games are in a unique position to explore the momentum of these compounding rituals, because although they require adherence to the rules inherent in the game, they still allow the player to feel a sense of autonomy and expression. For Rooftop Cop, these processes take the form of abstracted versions of law-enforcement behavior, wherein the immediate goal is often clear but the rationale behind it is not. The games are set on a loose timeline in which the link between actions and any initial purpose slowly deteriorates, leaving the player’s movements and motivations stranded and bare.
It has always been slightly terrifying to me that a slow slide into desolation would be completely abetted by the fact that there is always a way to be happy, or find a sense of purpose. That person on the beach moving sticks around in the sand is full of joy; she loves checking the fax machine. How things got there is the process of many many lifetimes.