Turbulence Commission: School of Perpetual Training — by Stephanie Rothenberg [Needs webcam and speakers] — is an ironic edutainment website that exposes the underbelly and not so glamorous side of the computer video game industry. An animated personal trainer leads eager job seekers through a series of webcam game training exercises for outsourced jobs in digital game manufacturing and global distribution. Classic arcade games such as Dig Dug and Space Invaders are redesigned to train job seekers for positions in mineral mining and printed circuit board assembly. Pushing joystick and mouse aside, the webcam interface utilizes motion detection requiring full range of body motion to play. Through the relationship of physical labor for virtual gain, the reality of the actual physical, labor critical to running virtual worlds is made visible.

School of Perpetual Training is a 2009 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

BIOGRAPHY

Stephanie Rothenberg’s interdisciplinary practice merges performance, installation and networked media to create provocative interactions that question the boundaries and social constructs of manufactured desires. She has lectured and exhibited in the US and internationally at venues including the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, 2008 Zer01 San Jose, 2004/2008 ISEA; and the Knitting Factory, NYC. Stephanie received her MFA in 2003 from The Department of Film, Video and New Media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently Assistant Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY Buffalo.