This evening (Monday, April 13th 2009), the MIT Museum and the Comparative Media Studies program will be hosting a special colloquium panel discussion to examine the WOW Pod, a new collaborative project from artists Cati Vaucelle and Shada/Jahn. Here are the details:

World of Warcraft (WOW) is a massive online multi-player game that attracts millions of players. A typical scenario for teenagers addicted to the game is to settle down in front of the monitor on Friday night and collapse on Sunday night. Sleep deprivation as well as high saturated fat diet is the pride of these players who barely take any breaks, and when they do they sign the typical "AFK" ("Away from Keyboard") that pops up on top of their avatar. The average AFK is two minutes, time to run to the fridge, to open a bag of potato chips, to replenish the glass of milk, or go to the bathroom. A model for an immersive architectural solution that anticipates all life needs, WOW Pod by Vaucelle/Shada/Jahn responds to these conditions.

Panelists include:

• Jean-Baptiste Labrune, Postdoctoral Associate at the Tangible Media Group, MIT Media Lab
• Raimundas Malasauskas, Curator, Artists Space (NYC)
• Henry Jenkins, Co-Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program
• Marisa Jahn, Artist in Residence, MIT Media Lab
• Steve Shada, artist collaborator
• Cati Vaucelle, artist collaborator and PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab
• Laura Knott, Curatorial Associate, MIT Museum

This event is presented by the MIT Museum in collaboration with the Visual Arts Program, MIT School of Architecture + Planning, and the Comparative Media Studies Program, MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.