Notes on Superflat and its Expression in Videogames

Surman, D. 2008. "Notes on Superflat and its Expression in Videogames" Refractory 13.

In this exploratory essay the author describes the shared context of Sculptor turned Games Designer Keita Takahashi, best known for his PS2 title Katamari Damacy, and superstar contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. The author argues that Takahashi’s videogame is an expression of the technical, aesthetic and cultural values Murakami describes as SuperFlat, and as such expresses continuity between the popular culture and contemporary art of two of Japan’s best-known international creative practitioners.

Animated Caricature: Notes on Superman 1941-1943

Surman, D. 2004. "Animated Caricature: Notes on Superman 1941-1943", Entertext 4 (1): 67-96

From Grey Boxes to Silver Screens: The Single Female Intruder as High Trash Heroine

In this paper the author examines the history and aesthetic of the ‘single female intruder’, a transmedia character archetype, prevalent in contemporary digital culture, through science fiction films, videogames, manga and anime. The author argues that this recurrent figure is synonymous with the movement of new cultural flows from Asian-Pacific media centres into the West, where it interacts with certain permissive prior aesthetics, to produce a transnational and transmedia archetype that is metonymic of the relations between body, technology and urban society. To argue for the consistency and currency of this recurrent figure, the author traces its development from historical transformations in feminine identity in Japan, from the Genroku era (1688–1704) to the Tenmei era (1781–89), though the later impact of Meiji reforms, and exposure to Western societal values (circa 1860). The author moves to a critique of post-war Japanese aesthetics, and examines how the ambiguous single woman, dressed in characteristic Rikyu greys, is retrieved from antiquity, to become a metaphor for a triumphant and spiritual relationship to the industrialisation of space and aesthetics. In a final move, the author examines how, through the popularisation of Japanese film, manga and anime, this archetype has moved into the international arena, to become a transnational archetype representing the “soft power” politics of Japan’s technonationalism, cyberculture, and presence as a first world media producer.

Gaming, Uncanny Realism & Technical Demonstration

Surman, D. 2008. "Gaming, Uncanny Realism & Technical Demonstration", Swan Quake

CGI Animation: Pseudorealism, Perception and Possible Worlds

Surman, D. 2003/4. "CGI Animation: Pseudorealism, Perception and Possible Worlds", Gamasutra Education Online

Review: Desire and Sexuality: Animating the Unconscious

Surman, D. 2008. "Review: Desire and Sexuality: Animating the Unconscious", Vertigo Magazine

SwanQuake: House

Surman, D. 2008. Statement: SwanQuake: House

Review: Patricia Pisters, 'The Matrix of Visual Culture'

Surman, D. 2004. "Review: Patricia Pisters, 'The Matrix of Visual Culture: Working With Deleuze in Film Theory'", Leonardo Reviews 12 (5)

Hardcore 6: Losing the Game: The Guilty Pleasures of Games at Work

Surman, D. 2005. :Losing the Game: The Guilty Pleasures of Games at Work" Hardcore 6: <www.digra.org/hardcore&gt;

Pokémon 151: Complicating Kawaii

Surman, D. forthcoming 2009. "Pokémon 151: Complicating Kawaii" in Chan, D. Hjorth, L. Games of Locality: Gaming in the Asia-Pacific Region. London: Routledge.

Remediation and Cineliteracy: An Approach to Recent Popular Film

Surman, D. 2003. "Remediation and Cineliteracy: An Approach to Recent Popular Film", CILECT Conference proceedings, Cardiff, UK.

From Realism to Reality Effect and Affect: Epistemological Issues in Realist Theories of Animation

Surman, D. 2005. "From Realism to Reality Effect and Affect: Epistemological Issues in Realist Theories of Animation", S.A.S Annual Conference, Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Style, Consistency and Plausibility in the Fable Gameworld

Surman, D. 2006. "Style, Consistency and Plausibility in the Fable Gameworld", in Buchan, S. Surman, D. Ward. P. Eds. Animated Worlds. London: John Libbey. 153 - 172

British Game Studies? An Extended Review of Two New Publications

Surman, D. 2007. "British Game Studies? An Extended Review of Two New Publications" Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal 2 (3): 287 - 296.

Pleasure, Spectacle and Reward in Capcom's Street Fighter Series

Surman, D. 2007. "Gameplay and the Reward-Spectacle: An Analysis of the Streetfighter Series (1987 – 2004)" in Krzywinska, T, Atkins, B. Eds. Videogame, Player, Text. London: Wallflower. 204 - 221.

Character and Cognition in the Animated World

Surman, D. 2005. Character and Cognition in the Animated World. S.C.M.S. Conference, London, UK

From Mélièse to Galaxy Quest: The Dark Matter of the Popular Imagination

Surman, D. Blassnigg, M. Punt, M. 2004. "From Mélièse to Galaxy Quest: The Dark Matter of the Popular Imagination", Space and the Arts Workshop Proceedings

Review: Displaying the Marvelous: Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and the Surrealist Exhibitions By Lewis Kachur

Surman, D. 2001. "Review: Displaying the Marvelous: Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and the Surrealist Exhibitions By Lewis Kachur" Leonardo Reviews 9 (11)

Dark Waters: Representing the Ocean Animus

Surman, D. 2008. "Dark Waters: Representing the Ocean Animus", Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference 2008, Bounemouth, UK

Dark Waters: Representing the Ocean Animus

Surman, D. 2008. 'Dark Waters: Representing the Ocean Animus', Society for Animation Studies Annual Conference, Bournemouth Arts Institute, UK.