Paolo Pedercini gives a free public lecture as part of the Fall 2022 IDS Lecture Series at The Cooper Union, organized by Leslie Hewitt and Omar Berrada. Video games! Are they hopelessly embedded in an algorithmic culture that privileges ruthless exploitation and toxic power fantasies? Can they be a tool to unpack and dramatize our technocultural dilemmas? Can they provide visions for a post-capitalist future? These questions, and many more, will torment us during this journey through twenty years of making games against the grain. 

Paolo Pedercini is a game developer, artist and educator. At Carnegie Mellon University, he teaches experimental game design, creative coding, and animation. He was born in Italy and migrated to the United States in 2007 to study integrated media arts at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Pedercini’s artistic practice deals with the relationship between electronic entertainment and ideology. Working under the project name “molleindustria” he produces videogames addressing various social issues such as environmental justice (McDonald’s videogame, Oiligarchy, Phone Story), religion (Faith Fighter) and labor and alienation (Every Day the Same Dream, Unmanned, To Build a Better Mousetrap). Molleindustria obtained extensive media coverage and critical acclaim while hopping between digital art, academia, game industry, media activism and Internet folk art. In addition to his studio practice, Paolo advocates for independent and socially conscious gamemaking, within and without artistic contexts.

The IDS public lecture series is part of the Robert Lehman Visiting Artist Program at The Cooper Union. We are grateful for major funding from the Robert Lehman Foundation. The IDS public lecture series is also made possible by generous support from the Open Society Foundations.

Attendees are required to show proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination; a CDC-recommended mask (disposable surgical, KN95, KF94, or N95) is encouraged while indoors.