"The artwork CLICKISTAN (LEVEL 3) features deliberate errors and low-resolution elements, intentionally presenting unclean cut-outs (such as the elephant or dolphin) reminiscent of our 2010 style, emulating the aesthetics of early net.art. It navigates the boundary between perfection, expectation, and the introduction of insecurity and discomfort to the comfortable user."

– UBERMORGEN

As part of the EXPANDED.ART PIONEER GRAILS series, UBERMORGEN release LEVEL 3 from CLICKISTAN as a video loop recorded on an Internet Explorer 5, a historical browser from 1999, to get the original pixel aesthetics instead of smooth lines.

In the 1990s, private websites included GIFs such as cats, dolphins, dogs, etc. that ran across the site. For LEVEL 3 in CLICKISTAN, UBERMORGEN has brought together these animals, such as the cat as the secret leader of the Internet, the dolphin as a healer, and the dog as a representative of humans. Back then, there were no cute animal videos or memes on social media, but there were GIFs with cute animals. LEVEL 3 is like a homepage where all personal content has been removed; only the distracting element remains, in an endless loop. These rudimentary memes, such as the HAMPSTER DANCE in the late 1990s, were traffic generators.

The CLICKISTAN soundtrack is inspired by early computer games and is supplied by the 8-bit music website micromusic.net.

CLICKISTAN by UBERMORGEN is a user-unfriendly work of computer game art that references early net art and classic coin-operated arcade games such as Space Invaders (1978), Donkey Kong (1981), and Pac Man (1980). It was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2010. Christiane Paul, curator of digital art at the Whitney Museum, states that the game "is not very challenging." As you move through levels, you’ll score points in ways that aren’t immediately obvious.

CLICKISTAN is unexpectedly fun to chase after runaway pixel animals with the mouse pointer, attacking the click with no rhyme or reason, imitating the formlessness of the web. CLICKISTAN makes you aware of the lack of availability of options in a nice way. It is like an ocean of neon bars that fold into each other as you move and click aimlessly—a simple moment of beauty.

The retro feel of this series of tiny ‘video games’ inspires the inner gamer in many, and for those users who are knowledgeable about the history of net art, the visit is even more rewarding. Clicking in general seems to be an affirmative action.

Nowadays, CLICKISTAN as a game is an entity dependent on the USA and on the Whitney Museum in particular, a kind of pleasure-oriented pixel principality. CLICKISTAN, officially the TERRITORY OF CLICKISTAN, is an internet-locked game mostly situated on servers in the Eastern US, with a small part on Eastern European servers. Its capital is LEVEL 3. CLICKISTAN is the world's tiniest game and one of the most entertaining micro-games on the digital planet.

Edition 14 / Open Edition

Verisart Certified: https://verisart.com/works/d7bb75b7-e9a1-4764-8147-bfd9ad1fe2ce