The Bit Bash Interactive Arts Festival

The Bit Bash Interactive Arts Festival is a vibrant event celebrating a decade of showcasing indie games and interactive arts in Chicago. Founded by local game developers, Bit Bash embraces a block party vibe that reflects the spirit of the Midwest, offering a unique voice alongside conferences like GDC and PAX. This year, to revive the festival post-pandemic, The Xtreme Bit Bash (August 31, 6-10pm at the iO Theatre) aims to re-engage its community and continue contributing to Chicago's rich arts and culture scene through its distinctive blend of interactive entertainment and artistic expression. Below is an interview conducted earlier in May by indienova with Jamie Sanchez, Co-founder of Bit Bash.

For more information about this event, visit Bit Bash’s website:https://bitbashchicago.com/

Interview

Rashel(R): Could you briefly introduce the history of the Bit Bash Interactive Arts Festival?

Jamie (J): Bit Bash was founded nearly 10 years ago through a desire of a lot of different independent game developers in Chicago to showcase not just what Chicago had to offer to other game developers but what games had to offer to Chicagoans at large. We found that when attending conferences and shows like GDC and PAX, we often saw a very engaged nightlife or social environment conducive to community and the good spirit of indie games. We wanted to replicate that atmosphere here in Chicago. So it started as a simple meeting to discuss what we, as a community, should do. We settled on organizing events in the form of a festival, and we launched our first festival.

We hosted it at Threadless’ warehouse, which no longer exists, but it had the perfect vibe for us. And then we really wanted to keep it down to earth, not stuffy like an art showcase might be. We wanted to embrace the block party vibe that's really well known in the Midwest. So, that set the stage for the direction Bit Bash would follow from then on.

R: I visited the newly opened space of VGA Gallery at Mana Contemporary. Could you tell us a little bit about the relationship between VGA and Bit Bash?

J: Video Game Arts Foundation (VGA), is a nonprofit that essentially governs the Bit Bash committee. That means we don't have to worry about finances necessarily, passing budgets. The committee makes sure that Bit Bash is compliant to VGA's nonprofit structure and mission. But otherwise, the people who make Bit Bash happen don't have to worry about much of the overhead that comes with navigating and organizing a nonprofit.

R: I heard that you're reopening the festival this year after the pandemic. Could you share your plan details with indienova? We're very interested in alternative game festivals like Bit Bash.

J: We made a conscious decision at the start of the pandemic, when everything was locked down, that Bit Bash wouldn't make for a very good virtual event. A lot of the energy and appreciation of a Bit Bash event comes from being in person and engaging face-to-face. So, in addition to the community feeling stressed about a pandemic and the challenges of navigating everything now going online, we felt that attempting to host Bit Bash virtually wouldn't make much sense for us.

As things started easing up, we started thinking about when we could host the next Bit Bash or collaborate with partners. However, there was still continuing sentiment about the risk of catching COVID. We're more likely to be very aware of germs and infectious diseases. So there was some hesitation about when to resume activities. Would people be willing to come out, spend an evening with us, and pay for tickets when there were concerns about meeting in person?

Over the past year, we've seen that everyone very much wants to meet back in person. Another challenge we’ve faced is that during the lockdown, many of our volunteers ended up shifting priorities, moving out of town, starting families, or just don't necessarily have the availability to volunteer for Bit Bash as before. This created hesitancy for us to restart the festival halfway and then realize that we lacked the resources to maintain our caliber. So, we decided to continue in a holding pattern, waiting for the right moment to regroup and revitalize the organization. Now, it's the perfect time. We're reaching out to new volunteers, spreading the word again, and engaging with new collaborative partners. So, things are in the works for this year.

R: Do you have a specific schedule for this year’s festival yet?

J: While we don’t have calendar dates yet, we do have summer and fall events in the works and will be talking about those soon! If we can choose a venue with an outdoor component, we’d prefer that, too. Part of our initial inspiration was leaning into a block party vibe, similar to IndieCade's Night Games.

R: In what ways do you think Bit Bash contributes to the game or interactive arts community in Chicago, or in a wider area, similar to how IndieCade’s Night Games contributes to Los Angeles?

J: We do have influence through the Midwest. There are Midwest-based developers who have contacted us or shown interest in bringing their games to Bit Bash. So it's nice to have Midwest roots and those connections to spread the word. People travel here to attend Bit Bash.

Regarding our contribution to Chicago's arts and culture scene, yes, definitely. Part of VGA's mission is to represent and uplift new media voices, which includes games, obviously, and interactive arts. Bit Bash is part of that mission to make these forms of expression more accessible, creating a festival vibe to break down some of the concerns like, oh, are video games art? Yes, they are. Can you experience them and have fun at the same time? Yes. But do they contribute to a larger arts and culture mission and enrich us? Definitely. I would say Bit Bash achieves this by being very personable and relaxed. There's a lot of personal connection with the developers who showcase their games with us, fostering mutual appreciation.

R: I first heard about Bit Bash as a game festival rather than an interactive arts festival. I wonder if you brand it as a game festival, given that many of the works you select are games.

J: Bit Bash frames itself as an interactive arts festival because we have curation parameters that guide our selection for the show. At least 20% of the games shown are from local developers. We go by three pillars:

Firstly, we consider whether the work can entertain a large number of people and engage them in a way that makes them feel part of a broader community. Multiplayer co-op and competitive games often achieve this, but we also explore other types of art that can have a similar effect. Given our network’s strong ties to game developers, this is probably where we source most of our pieces to show. The second pillar of our curation mission is to present alternative controllers that might not be available for home use or easy to source elsewhere. This segment, like the alt.ctrl.GDC Showcase at GDC, focuses on alternative games controllers. We want to provide a space where people can engage with them, not just as video games or controllers, but as statements about how we interact in the world. And then the third pillar would be, does this work have an artist's statement, a strong mission, or some meaningful message intended for the audience?

R: How does the team design each year's theme? And how do these themes differ from each other?

J: As a committee and a team, we select themes that we believe will be fun to host. We definitely want themes with high energy levels. Sometimes, our themes are a little tongue-in-cheek. For example, one of our past events was at a maker space, and we wanted to ensure that the works involved were maker-related. We named the event “Fabricade,” and we cloaked it in a nostalgic '80s vibe, reminiscent of old VHS tapes where people would record, re-record things, and pirate whatever content. The selections were made in that style. We all enjoyed styling the space and tying it back to our generous hosts who offered us the space. If there's an opportunity to align the theme towards the venue, we will. But, our main focus is on selecting themes with high energy levels, a strong visual language that we can use to create interesting graphics, and the ability to source a variety of games within the theme without feeling too stressful or contrived.

So, the theme varies year to year based on who's part of the team at the time and what ideas we have. Some ideas are discarded early on and never revisited, so they're just tucked away. It's all about mood and interest, and it gets passed along to our curation club, as we call them, who then source works that relate to the chosen theme.

R: Do you stay connected with indie game developers or interactive artists in Chicago? Perhaps through any institutions? I know there are many good art schools in Chicago.

J: Yeah, we're fortunate that Chicago is well connected with overlapping communities, and we have volunteers who are involved in multiple of these communities. Some are game developers themselves or have been teaching at a school. So, where possible, we maintain these connections, though there has been a challenge post-lockdown, in keeping those connections alive. It's nice to see many communities re-energizing after all of that, and we are always able to reach out when needed. People are generally responsive and appreciate Bit Bash's connections.

R: Who are the majority of participating artists, and who comprises the audience? Do you have a general idea?

J: Yeah, I would say a large portion of our audience tends to be game developers themselves or aspiring game developers, along with those familiar with indie games as a whole. Another subset comprises academic individuals, often part of our VGA audience. We had a collaboration with Bit Bash at the Steppenwolf Theatre about two years ago, where some of our audience included The Verge staff hosting the event. We also have connections at The Onion, attracting people from entertainment sectors interested in indie games and interactive arts. There's a subset of local artists eager to explore games as a medium. We had invited high school students to bring games to Yollocalli Arts Reach, which is the teen media group at the Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. We have also collaborated with the Chicago Public Library to bring games to the library.

I definitely think that those already into games know what to expect and understand the norms of video games. But we don't want to limit ourselves to people who consider the things they make "games." So, it's nice to see people who work with other mediums showing interest in this field like DJs, interactive artists, live performers, and what they can offer Chicago’s arts and culture space.

R: How do you see the Bit Bash Interactive Arts Festival differing from corporate-run festivals like GDC?

J: This is very much an indie spirit thing. While we do raise money from sponsors and receive funding through the grants that VGA applies for, and ticket sales, it takes capital to make it happen, rent a space, get the equipment, and properly compensate artists. For example, we've shown interactive works on stage and hosted timed community events. So it's hard to say. I think we're more of the punk rock vibe.

We're here to show people that there's a world of interesting stuff. If you don't know that it's there, here it is. Dip your toes in. We're not afraid to show more complex or challenging games in a public space to bring awareness to certain issues. We're not going to shy away from LGBTQ+ message games or mature content; we've even had 18+ rooms on taboo and adult topics before. We would love to acknowledge the humanity in interactive arts and present the human element in the games and pieces of work that we showcase.