Nothing You Have Done Deserves Such Praise • 2013-16

Video games are a language, a grammar or linguistics of various texts. The sounds, the movement, the graphics, the rules or lack of rules, everything about a video game is a component of language. An artistic digital poetry game must combine all these elements, strange and interactive stanzas, crossed out and obstructed lines, sounds and texts triggered and lost during the play. Indeed, the game interface becomes a road to inhabiting the digital poem, to coaxing the reader/player into living and creating within the game/poetry space.

Nothing You Have Done Deserves Such Praise is an art/ poetry/ adventuring game, a playland for exploring our ever-present desire for constant and over-blown rewards. Our worlds (digital and breathing) are filled with needless and unearned praise, we are built to love exploding trophies for fifth place. This art/poetry game satisfies your compliment addiction by celebrating your walking/ jumping/ falling through strange and wondrous anatomical lands.

Published & exhibited

Turbulence New Media Gallery, New Museum, New York City, Commission.

Select impact

Won People's Choice Prize, New Media Writing Prize, Bournemouth University, UK.

Interview and Exhibition of my work at MIT’s Leonardo:
http://www.leoalmanac.org/lea-new-media-exhibition-interview-with-jason-nelson/

Select documentation

Playable version: https://www.dpoetry.com/games/nothing/

Supernaut article: https://supernaut.info/2013/05/nothing-you-have-done-deserves-such-praise

Hyperallergic article and review:
https://hyperallergic.com/72253/score-a-game-of-hollow-victory-feeds-our-need-for-reward/