Paper Pong by Richard Moore
What was the first video game you ever played? Use this console to look at the book Paper Pong on your own computer screen in the comfort of your own home. All you have to do is click "read for free". Tweet your reactions using the hashtag. How does playing this game make you feel? Difficult or easy and why? Is it not strange that the digital version of this book is not just the actual game of pong?
In Mallarme's "Coup de Des", you were able to make choices in a constructed playground. In El Lissitzky's About Two Squares, your ability to make choices was expanded due to the ambiguity of the artwork. In Paper Pong (2008), the choices that you make are completely yours. Richard Moore is not trying to direct you towards a certain message or a certain word or phrase that you should notice. You are merely playing a very archaic game on a paper console. Moore's work takes you directly into the digital age. As you might have noticed, the book is very much in the style of a "Create your own adventure book", in which you turn to a certain page based on the decision that you have made. Your end result is completely your own creation, and there is something rather beautiful at creating your own story. However, while Moore has relinquished his control on the reader, Mallarme and El Lissitzky choose to exert a small portion of control but still allow the reader some autonomy in order to enhance their text's meaning. Mallarme wanted to guide the reader in his/her choices to show that a throw of the dice would not abolish chance, that he constructed "chance" in a way that no matter how you read it, you would still have the same idea of a tumultuous journey. El Lissitzky provides the reader with significant ambiguity which provides the reader more autonomy to interpret, but he also provides the reader with a set of instructions (although these are ambiguous as well). But El Lizzitsky did this in order to exemplify Suprematist ideals and share a story with children. This paves way to the question of: What was Richard Moore's intention here? Why did he decide to put pong in a book? The claim for Paper Pong is that no batteries are required - however the digital version of this book must be read from a laptop, tablet, or cellular device (which do require batteries). Perhaps Moore's intention was to be eco-friendly, but there is also the interesting relationship between form and function. Moore chose a codex form for his version of paper pong. The codex form is very versatile and with this book pong can be played again and again - you can even scratch out doodles and notes in the margins or use it as a coaster. I believe that Moore's purpose behind this book about choices is getting down to the nitty gritty of the nature of video games. Are the choices that you are making completely yours? How does that align with your reality? How important is your autonomy when playing a game and reading a book? How does reading a book take away that autonomy by telling you HOW to read as opposed to giving you free reign? Overall, Moore's creation allows you full autonomy on a surrogate screen that you are not being controlled by. Despite the instructions, it is your choice to stop playing the game or play it over and over again.
Media citation: Richard Moore, 2008, Paper Pong
To check out more of Moore's work, visit his site
