Nik Hanselmann
Lives and works in Berkeley, CA
Joe McKay
Born 1970, Swansea Wales, Ontario, Canada.
Lives and works in Oakland, CA
Gregory Niemeyer
Lives and works in Berkeley, CA

Greg Niemeyer received his MFA in New Media in 1997 from Stanford University where he also founded the Stanford University Digital Art Center. He currently teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. His works focus on the mediation between humans and individuals as a collective through technological means, and emphasize playful responses to technology. Joe McKay, a former student of Greg Niemeyer, received his MFA from the University of California, Berkeley, before participating in the Whitney Independent Study Program in 2001. McKay creates work with and about technology and digital culture, exploring how they affect us and how we can regain some control over them in our everyday lives. Nik Hanselmann is a programmer and student of Greg Niemeyer.



Return of Balance is an interactive game that requires players to use subtle shifts in weight to control a virtual platform. Players use the platform to deflect bouncing balls into colored hoops, and, like any good video game, it becomes increasingly more difficult. Unlike most other video games, however, it requires that players find their own balance and center of gravity. Players must first master their own body and weight to combat the game, and therefore, technology. Perhaps ironically, Nintendo’s new interactive gaming platform, Wii, was released at about the same time as this work.

caption:
Return of Balance, 2007
video game
Courtesy of the artists