Displaycement = displacement + play
Riccardo Cavazza & Mauro Ferrario present “Hackai”.

The concept theme for Flussi 2013 focuses on a play on words, which we interpreted as a “displacement of the game.” We decided to use instruments totally unrelated to the world of games so to bring simple games inside those instruments, by changing the functionality of the tools, integrating their basic functions to basically have a more complete experience. Hackai, itself a play on words between Hack and Akai, is a study on the possibility of using an Akai MIDI controller, so, instruments made to play (music, visuals, and so on) as objects of a different kind: at Flussi 2013 they will become game consoles.

The goal is twofold.

For the “insiders” or music and new technology lovers, this is a brilliant demo of the power of these controllers managed by software and the ability to break away from the established mechanisms of “pc + monitor + 3d graphics”, so to go further on, to investigate other devices, other ways of thinking about visualization and interactivity. Against, instead, of those who will approach the installation with no idea of the technologies used, the goal is to provide a competitive and funny gaming experience for the people, but that could also give both visual and audio experience, that simply coundn’t be achieved with just a PC… (We hope to bring) A bit of emotion and magic that nowadays, burdened as we are with computers, tablets, smartphones and other electronic devices, it is hard to feel with some else electronic gadget.