{{Short description|French artist, curator and critic specialising in digital media art and video games}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2026}}

”’Isabelle Arvers”’ (born 1972, [[Paris]]) is a French artist, curator, and critic specialising in the intersections of [[digital media art]] and [video games], including [[machinima]], [[retrogaming]], web animation, and digital cinema.{{cite web|title=”Universalization is a colonialist heritage.” An interview with video game curator Isabelle Arvers|publisher=We Make Money Not Art|url=https://we-make-money-not-art.com/universalization-is-a-colonialist-heritage-an-interview-with-video-game-curator-isabelle-arvers/|quote=Regine Debatty, We Make Money Not Art, June 2019}}{{cite web|title=Art + Games World Tour — Isabelle Arvers|publisher=SIGGRAPH Digital Power (ACM SIGGRAPH)|url=https://digital-power.siggraph.org/piece/art-games-world-tour/|quote=SIGGRAPH Digital Power, 2020}} Based in [[Marseille]], she began specialising in [[new media art|new media]] in 1993 and has curated game art programmes since 2002, making her one of the earliest curators in France to present video games as an artistic medium.{{cite web|title=MACHINIMA vs DEMO PARTY — Plasticiens du web, 19 mai 2005|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/programme/agenda/evenement/caj68Aa|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, Cinéma 2, 19 May 2005}}{{cite web|title=Digital Art With Je Ne Sais Quoi|publisher=Wired (US edition)|url=https://www.wired.com/2002/09/digital-art-with-je-ne-sais-quoi/|quote=Wired, September 2002 — coverage of Festival Villette Numérique}} She is described as a pioneer of game art and machinima curation in France.{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — personality page|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official personality page)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/personne/uRCs86k|quote=Permanent personality record in the Centre Pompidou institutional database, listing all events curated or presented by Arvers at the institution}}{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — Faculty page|publisher=Centre for Digital Media, Vancouver|url=https://thecdm.ca/people/faculty/isabelle-arvers|quote=The CDM (UBC/SFU/ECUAD/BCIT), Vancouver}}

Her work spans curatorial projects, [[machinima]] production, workshops, and scholarship, with a sustained focus on decolonial and ecological perspectives. In May 2024 she defended a PhD titled “Decolonizing Art & Video Games” at the [[University of Lisbon|Universidade de Lisboa]],{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — researcher profile, ITI/LARSyS, Universidade de Lisboa|publisher=CiênciaVitae — Portuguese national research registry|url=https://www.cienciavitae.pt/en/591E-9008-0948|quote=CiênciaVitae, national scientific registry of Portugal}} building on over two decades of curatorial research. She is a founding member of the Techn’Orisha collective,{{cite web|title=Now Play This 2024 — eFa DC by Techn’Orisha Collective|publisher=Somerset House / Now Play This 2024|url=https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/now-play-this-2024|quote=Somerset House, London, April 2024}} co-founder of the Beyond Green Games initiative,{{cite web|title=Place aux jeux vidéo décoloniaux pour une société plus inclusive|publisher=BOZAR — Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels|url=https://www.bozar.be/fr/regardez-lisez-ecoutez/place-aux-jeux-video-decoloniaux-pour-une-societe-plus-inclusive|quote=BOZAR blog, 2022–25}} and a faculty member of the [[Centre for Digital Media]] in [[Vancouver]].

== Education ==

Arvers graduated from the [[Institut d’études politiques d’Aix-en-Provence]] (Sciences Po Aix) and holds a ”Diplôme d’Études Supérieures Spécialisées” (DESS) in the management of cultural projects. She began specialising in new media in 1993.

In 2020 she enrolled in a doctoral programme at the Faculdade de Belas-Artes, [[University of Lisbon|Universidade de Lisboa]] (LARSyS / Interactive Technologies Institute), supervised by Patricia Gouveia. She defended her thesis, “Decolonizing Art & Video Games”, on 16 May 2024.{{cite web|title=Agency, simulation, gamification, machinima: An interview with Isabelle Arvers|publisher=University of York Research Database|url=https://pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/agency-simulation-gamification-machinima-an-interview-with-isabel|quote=Ng & Arvers, Chapter 13 in Understanding Machinima, Bloomsbury, 2013 (peer-reviewed)}}

== Career ==

=== Early career (1993–2005) ===

After completing her studies, Arvers worked at Ex Machina and Duboi, and participated in Art 3000, coordinating the [[International Symposium on Electronic Art|International Symposium of Electronic Arts]] (ISEA) in Paris.{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — presenter profile|publisher=ISEA Symposium Archives|url=https://www.isea-symposium-archives.org/person/isabelle-arvers/|quote=isea-symposium-archives.org}} She began curating digital art programmes at the [[Centre Pompidou]] from 2001 within the “Cinéma de demain” and “Plasticiens du web” series, including “Video Cuts” (2001), “Tour du monde du Web” (2003),{{cite web|title=Tour du monde du Web : la Grèce — Cinéma de demain, 18 déc 2003|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/coXXyRR|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, 18 December 2003}} the symposium “Les Immatériaux vingt ans après” (2004),{{cite web|title=Les Immatériaux vingt ans après — Les commissaires, 25 avril 2004|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/caj89M4|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, 25 April 2004 — symposium marking 20th anniversary of Les Immatériaux}} “Musique 8 Bits” (2005), and “Fluxus on line” (2005){{cite web|title=V-Jing — Cinéma de demain, 21 avril 2005|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/cTgoyy|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, 21 April 2005}}.{{cite web|title=Fluxus on line — Plasticiens du web 2005–2006, 15 décembre 2005|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/cGbbBoM|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, 15 December 2005}}

In 2002, she curated “[[Playtime (1967 film)|Playtime]]”, a retrogaming and game art exhibition for the inaugural [[Festival Villette Numérique]] in Paris — the first major exhibition of its kind in a French cultural institution. The festival received coverage in ”[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]” in September 2002.

=== “8 BIT” documentary (2006) ===

In 2006, Arvers was featured as a curator in ”[[8 BIT: A Documentary about Art and Video Games]]” (dir. [[Marcin Ramocki]] and Justin Strawhand), which had its world premiere at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in [[New York City|New York]] on 7 October 2006. The MoMA press release named her as curator alongside artists [[Cory Arcangel]], [[JODI (art collective)|JODI]], and [[Mary Flanagan]], and theorists Christiane Paul ([[Whitney Museum of American Art|Whitney Museum]]) and Ed Halter. The film was listed in ”[[Artforum]]”’s Top Ten Films of 2006.{{cite web|title=8 BIT: A Documentary about Art and Videogames — world premiere at MoMA, 7 Oct 2006|publisher=8bitmovie.com / Museum of Modern Art, New York|url=https://www.8bitmovie.com/|quote=Dir. Marcin Ramocki & Justin Strawhand. MoMA press release names curator Isabelle Arvers. Listed in Artforum Top Ten Films of 2006.}}

=== antiAtlas of Borders (2013–2016) ===

From 2013 to 2016, Arvers co-curated six editions of the antiAtlas of Borders, an interdisciplinary art and research project examining the evolution of borders in the digital age. The project brought together artists, researchers, and border professionals to explore themes of [[surveillance]], [[Human migration|migration]], and technological control.{{cite web|title=Bypassing Cartography (Part 1) — antiAtlas of Borders|publisher=Furtherfield|url=https://www.furtherfield.org/bypassing-cartography-part-1/|quote=Marc Garrett, Furtherfield, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Bypassing Cartography (Part 2) — The antiAtlas of Borders|publisher=Furtherfield|url=https://www.furtherfield.org/bypassing-cartography-part-2-the-antiatlas-of-borders/|quote=Furtherfield, 2013}} Exhibitions were held at the Tapestry Museum in [[Aix-en-Provence]] (2013), La Compagnie in [[Marseille]] (2013–14), [[MAXXI]] in [[Rome]] (2014), the [[Institut français]] in [[Berlin]] (2014, “Maps of Secession”),{{cite web|title=Exhibition Maps of Secession — Institut Français, Berlin, 2014|publisher=antiAtlas des frontières|url=https://www.antiatlas.net/exhibition-maps-of-secession-berlin-2014/|quote=antiatlas.net, 2014}} Lacambre Architecture University in [[Brussels]] (2016, “Coding & Decoding Borders”), and the Espace des Arts sans frontières in Paris (2015, “The End of the Map”). The project received extended coverage from the net art platform [[Furtherfield]].

=== Art and Games World Tour (2019–2022) ===

In 2019, marking twenty years of curatorial work, Arvers embarked on an international tour across more than fifteen countries — including [[South Korea]], [[Taiwan]], [[Indonesia]], [[Thailand]], [[Japan]], [[India]], [[Colombia]], [[Argentina]], [[Brazil]], [[Nigeria]], [[Ghana]], and [[Togo]] — meeting over 300 artists and game-makers with a focus on [[queer]], [[feminist]], and decolonial game practices. The tour was supported by the [[Institut français]] within its IF Incontournable programme.{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — profile and interview, Art Games World Tour|publisher=Institut français|url=https://www.institutfrancais.com/fr/magazine/creation-numerique/isabelle-arvers|quote=institutfrancais.com}} It was featured by [[SIGGRAPH]] Digital Power, the feminist technology network Donestech,{{cite web|title=Art Games World Tour — Isabelle Arvers 2019–2020|publisher=Donestech|url=https://donestech.net/noticia/art-games-world-tour-isabelle-arvers-2019-2020|quote=Donestech (feminist technology network), 2020}} and documented in the CRACN ”Savoirs Ludiques” collection.{{cite web|title=Le tour du monde du jeu vidéo queer, indé et post-colonialiste d’Isabelle Arvers (2019–2020)|publisher=CRACN / Savoirs Ludiques|url=https://cracn.fr/books/savoirs-ludiques/page/le-tour-du-monde-du-jeu-video-queer-inde-et-post-colonialiste-disabelle-arvers-2019-2020|quote=Centre de Recherche en Arts Actuels du Nord}}

Exhibitions arising from the tour included “Tecnofeminismo” ([[Alliance Française]], [[Bogotá]], 2019), “Art Games World Tour” (Centro Cultural [[San Martín, Buenos Aires|San Martín]], [[Buenos Aires]], 2019), “Inter-Species Imaginaries” (Overkill Festival, [[Enschede]], 2019), and “Jibambe na Tec” (Alliance Française de [[Nairobi]], 2020). Arvers documented the tour in dispatches for Poptronics{{cite web|title=Mon tour du monde art et jeu vidéo|publisher=Poptronics|url=https://poptronics.fr/Mon-tour-du-monde-art-et-jeu-video|quote=Poptronics, June 2019}}{{cite web|title=La scène art et jeu vidéo queer, féministe et décoloniale au Brésil|publisher=Poptronics|url=https://www.poptronics.fr/Au-Bresil-pour-le-tour-du-monde|quote=Poptronics, 2020}} and Makery,{{cite web|title=Un tour du monde en pause au Togo : Lomé+, exposition digitale|publisher=Makery|url=https://www.makery.info/2020/07/20/lome-une-exposition-digitale-au-togo/|quote=Makery, July 2020}}{{cite web|title=Un Dakar rétro-futuriste aux 10 ans de Partcours|publisher=Makery|url=https://www.makery.info/2022/02/02/un-dakar-retro-futuriste-au-partcours-2021/|quote=Makery, February 2022}} and presented the peer-reviewed paper “Counter fictions from the margins” at [[Digital Games Research Association|DiGRA]] 2022.{{cite web|title=Counter fictions from the margins|publisher=DiGRA Digital Library (peer-reviewed)|url=https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/download/1311/1311/1308|quote=Arvers, Isabelle, DiGRA 2022 Conference Proceedings}}

=== “Aux Futurs Ancestraux” (2023–ongoing) ===

Following a residency in [[Senegal]] (2021–22) focused on ancestral knowledge systems, Arvers developed the curatorial project “Aux Futurs Ancestraux” (To Ancestral Futures), bringing together artists from [[Latin America]], [[Africa]], and the [[Caribbean]] whose practices engage with [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] cosmologies, ecology, and living knowledge systems.

The first edition was presented at the Médiathèque Jean-Rousselot de Guyancourt (25 January – 12 March 2023), with coverage in ArtsHebdoMédias.{{cite web|title=Des Futurs ancestraux à la face cachée du metavers|publisher=ArtsHebdoMédias|url=https://www.artshebdomedias.com/article/des-futurs-ancestraux-a-la-face-cachee-du-metavers/|quote=ArtsHebdoMédias, January 2023}} A second edition at the [[Espace Multimédia Gantner]] ([[Belfort]]/Bourogne, October 2023 – January 2024){{cite web|title=Aux Futurs Ancestraux — From Digital Art to Video Games|publisher=Espace Multimédia Gantner|url=https://www.espacemultimediagantner.cg90.net/en/exposition/aux-futurs-ancestraux-from-digital-art-to-video-games/|quote=Espace Multimédia Gantner, Oct 2023–Jan 2024}} included the interactive installation “eFa DC” by the Techn’Orisha collective, the machinima “Liquid Forest” by Arvers, and the [[virtual reality|VR]] installation “Spectographie” by Carole Chausset and Myriam Mihindou. A third edition, supported by ADAC Bénin and laureate of the FDAC programme,{{cite web|title=FDAC laureate project — Aux Futurs Ancestraux|publisher=ADAC Bénin|url=https://www.adac.bj/|quote=Agence de Développement des Arts et de la Culture, Bénin, 2025–26}} is being developed in collaboration with Beninese artists Elon’M Tossou, Exaucé Koutempa, Sa Majesté Joseph Afodegonkou, and Ronald Kayima, with an exhibition in [[Cotonou]] planned for 2026.

=== Techn’Orisha Collective ===

Arvers is a founding member of the Techn’Orisha collective, which emerged from a workshop in [[Martinique]] organised by the Centre de Recherche en Arts Actuels (CRACN). The collective — comprising Livia Diniz, Benjamin Abras, Bruno Creuzet, Michel Petris, Henri Tauliaut, M’vwâma Diop, Annabel Gueredrat, and Isabelle Arvers — creates work at the intersection of [[shamanism|techno-shamanism]], techno-voodoo, and digital technologies. Their principal work, “eFa Dispositif Collectif” (“eFa DC”), is an interactive installation drawing on the [[Yoruba]] [[Ifá|FA]] [[divination]] system, whose structural proximity to [[binary code]] is central to the piece. “eFa DC” was selected for [[Now Play This]] 2024 at [[Somerset House]], London.

=== Beyond Green Games (2022–ongoing) ===

In 2022, Arvers co-founded Beyond Green Games with Brazilian artist Livia Diniz. The initiative uses a curated selection of independent video games — chosen for their [[animism|animist]], indigenous, and ecological perspectives — combined with nature walks and [[machinima]] creation, to raise ecological awareness among students and communities.{{cite web|title=Afropolitan Talk: Decolonial perspectives on video games|publisher=BOZAR — Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels|url=https://www.bozar.be/en/calendar/afropolitan-talk-decolonial-perspectives-video-games|quote=BOZAR, Brussels, 29 May 2022}}

Workshops and immersions have been conducted in France, [[Thailand]], [[Belgium]], [[Brazil]], and [[Portugal]], including [[BOZAR|BOZAR (Centre for Fine Arts)]] ([[Brussels]], October 2025) and TRANSPER / [[Erasmus programme|Erasmus+]] ([[Lisbon]], February 2026). Arvers presented the initiative as keynote at Videojogos 2024 ([[Polytechnic Institute of Leiria]], December 2024).

=== “Sous le même ciel ?” (2025) ===

In 2025, Arvers served as scientific advisor for the exhibition “Sous le même ciel ?” at Le Cube Garges (13 February – 26 July 2025),{{cite web|title=Sous le même ciel ? — exhibition (13 Feb – 26 Jul 2025)|publisher=Le Cube Garges|url=https://www.lecubegarges.fr/programme/sous-le-meme-ciel/|quote=Le Cube Garges, 2025}} which explored contemporary art and independent video games with a focus on non-Western worldbuilding. The exhibition was covered by ”MCD” (Magazine des Cultures Digitales).{{cite web|title=Sous le même ciel ? — exhibition coverage|publisher=MCD — Magazine des Cultures Digitales|url=https://www.digitalmcd.com/sous-le-meme-ciel/|quote=digitalmcd.com, 2025}}

== Machinima ==

[[Machinima]] — a [[portmanteau]] of ‘machine cinema’ — designates films made by recording real-time sequences within [video game] engines. Arvers has described the practice as one of [[détournement]]: transforming a mass-consumption entertainment object into a tool for personal expression.

=== Pioneer and curator in France ===

On 19 May 2005, Arvers organised the first public presentation of machinima in France at the [[Centre Pompidou]], under the title “Machinima vs Demo Party” within the museum’s “Plasticiens du web” series. ”[[Paris-Art]]” described it as a session dedicated to “nouvelles formes d’images issues de la ‘game culture’,” with featured works including [[Burnie Burns]]’ ”[[Red vs. Blue]]” (USA).{{cite web|title=Centre Pompidou : Machinima vs Demo Party dans «Plasticien du web»|publisher=Paris-Art|url=https://www.paris-art.com/web-centre-pompidou-machinima-vs-demo-party-dans-plasticien-du-web/|quote=Paris-Art, 19 May 2005}} The Centre Pompidou’s programme note articulated what would become the guiding principle of Arvers’ machinima advocacy: that video games could be transformed into “un moyen d’expression accessible à tous.”

On 26 May 2007 she returned to the Centre Pompidou for “Machinima n°1” and “Machinima n°2”, two carte blanche sessions within the museum’s “Fictions” series.{{cite web|title=Machinima n°1 — Séance n°2, Rencontre Fictions, 26 mai 2007|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/programme/agenda/evenement/ccxBRj|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, 26 May 2007}}{{cite web|title=Machinima n°2 — Séance n°5, Rencontre Fictions, 27 mai 2007|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/caz6e5X|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, 27 May 2007}} She subsequently curated machinima programmes for the Flash Festival at the Centre Pompidou (2006–08), the Némo Festival in Paris (2006), the [[Annecy International Animation Film Festival|Annecy International Animation Film Festival]] (2007), CIANT in [[Prague]] (2007), and Mostravideo / [[Itaú Cultural]] in [[São Paulo]] and [[Belo Horizonte]] (2009).

She curated annual machinima exhibitions for the Gamerz Festival in [[Aix-en-Provence]] from 2009 to 2014, with successive themes: game realism and politics (2009–10), identity and otherness (2011–12), glitches and digital accidents (“Machiniglitch”, 2013), and feminist and queer game art (“Machinigirrlzzzz”, 2014).{{cite web|title=Event listing — Isabelle Arvers, Gamerz Festival|publisher=Gamescenes|url=https://www.gamescenes.org/tag/event-68c1a57e48fd94001bdc9a64/|quote=Gamescenes}} In 2016 she curated “MACHINIMA in MASH UP” at the [[Vancouver Art Gallery]], and in 2018 a machinima programme on immortality for the Overkill Festival ([[Enschede]], [[Netherlands]]).

The [[Centre for Digital Media]] in Vancouver and the Espace Multimédia Gantner both describe her as a pioneer of game art and machinima in France and internationally. The editor of ”Understanding Machinima” ([[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]], 2013), Jenna Ng, wrote that Arvers’ practice “presented yet more perspectives on how [machinima] may be and has been used.”

=== Workshops and machinima activism ===

Arvers has described her workshop practice as activist in character: demonstrating that any person, with a game console and a computer, can transform a commercial game into a personal film. She began machinima workshops in 2009, first with teenagers, subsequently with young adults, art students, librarians, educators, and community groups including traditional storytellers. After more than a hundred workshops in France and internationally,{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — artist profile|publisher=IOTA Institute|url=https://iotainstitute.com/artists/isabelle-arvers/|quote=IOTA Institute, 2019}}{{cite web|title=Arvers, Isabelle — artist profile|publisher=La Fabulerie, Marseille|url=http://lafabulerie.com/2014/02/03/arvers-isabelle/|quote=La Fabulerie, 2014}} she directed her first machinima in 2012. Her methodology covers scriptwriting, scene construction, character animation, in-game filming, and post-production, using accessible tools including [[The Movies (video game)|The Movies]], Moviestorm, and [[Grand Theft Auto Online|GTA Online]].

International workshop contexts have included the Centre Pompidou Studio 13/16, where she led the “Ateliers Machinimas” (15–16 January 2011),{{cite web|title=Ateliers Machinimas — avec Isabelle Arvers, Studio 13/16|publisher=Centre Pompidou (official programme archive)|url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/program/calendar/event/c9ojAy|quote=Centre Pompidou, Paris, Studio 13/16, 15–16 January 2011 — two-day machinima workshop}} the Bibliothèque Alcazar ([[Marseille]], 2011), Web Visions ([[Barcelona]], 2013), LEVEL ART/Agora ([[Wrocław]], 2013), Rural.scapes ([[Brazil]], 2015), the [[UCLA Game Lab]] ([[Los Angeles]]),{{cite web|title=Games on the Canvas — resource page|publisher=UCLA Game Lab|url=https://games.ucla.edu/resource/games-colors-canvas|quote=games.ucla.edu}} traditional storytelling workshops in [[Lomé]], [[Togo]] (2020, with Hodin Seynion) and [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]] (2020), and the [[Bibliothèque publique d’information]] in Paris (2022). As part of Beyond Green Games, she has extended the machinima workshop model to environmental education since 2022.

=== Machinima works (selected) ===

Arvers’ machinima works reflect a trajectory from documentary and political subjects toward increasingly poetic and ecological approaches. Her abstract seascapes — “Mer rose”, “Mer violette parme”, “Mer orange rose”, and “La Mer” (2019) — use game engines to generate abstracted digital landscapes. “La Mer” was featured by the game art platform Gamescenes.{{cite web|title=La Mer by Isabelle Arvers (2019)|publisher=Gamescenes|url=https://www.gamescenes.org/game-art-isabelle-arvers-la-mer-2019/|quote=Gamescenes — Art in the Age of Videogames, 2019}}

In 2016, working in the [[Calais Jungle|Calais refugee camp known as the Jungle]], she produced a machinima documentary on refugee experiences. This work won the [[Lumen Prize]] for digital art in 2016, as reported by Zippyframes.{{cite web|title=Machinima Refugee Project wins the Lumen Prize|publisher=Zippyframes|url=https://www.zippyframes.com/news/awards/machinima-refugee-project-wins-the-lumen-prize|quote=Zippyframes, 2016}}

Her most recent machinima, “Liquid Forest” (2023, France/Congo, 10’56”), was created using [[Grand Theft Auto Online|GTA Online]], The Forgetter, Moviestorm, and Cine Tracer, with a soundtrack by Congolese musician Gaël Manangou. It screened at Videoformes 2024,{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — Liquid Forest|publisher=Videoformes 2024|url=https://festival2024.videoformes.com/expositions/isabelle-arvers/|quote=Videoformes, Clermont-Ferrand, 2024}} was exhibited online through the Milan Machinima Festival’s VRAL 99 programme (November–December 2024),{{cite web|title=VRAL 99: Isabelle Arvers — interview by Matteo Bittanti|publisher=Milan Machinima Festival — VRAL 99|url=https://milanmachinimafestival.org/vral-isabelle-arvers-2024|quote=Milan Machinima Festival, 2024}}{{cite web|title=Event: Isabelle Arvers — Liquid Forest on VRAL.org (Nov 22–Dec 5, 2024)|publisher=Gamescenes|url=https://www.gamescenes.org/event-isabelle-arvers-november-22-december-5-2024-online/|quote=Gamescenes, November 2024}} and was the subject of a published interview by the Institut Français.{{cite web|title=Liquid Forest — interview with Isabelle Arvers|publisher=Institut Français Digital / VRAL|url=https://ifdigital.institutfrancais.com/sites/default/files/media/ISABELLE%20ARVERS_VRAL%20INTERVIEW.pdf|quote=Institut Français, 2024}}

=== Critical and scholarly contributions ===

Arvers has contributed to the academic study of machinima as an artistic medium. Her 2010 [[MIT Press]] essay “Cheats or Glitch? Voice as a Game Modification in Machinima” frames glitches and cheats as deliberate aesthetic strategies rather than errors.{{cite web|title=Cheats or Glitch? Voice as a Game Modification in Machinima|publisher=MIT Press|url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/edited-volume/2879/chapter/78039/Cheats-or-Glitch-Voice-as-a-Game-Modification-in|quote=in VOICE: Vocal Aesthetics in Digital Arts and Media, MIT Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-262-01398-6}} Her peer-reviewed chapter in ”Understanding Machinima” ([[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]], 2013) positions the form as a tool for interrogating power dynamics in simulated spaces.{{cite web|title=Understanding Machinima: Essays on Filmmaking in Virtual Worlds|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/understanding-machinima-9781441149626/|quote=Jenna Ng (ed.), Bloomsbury, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4411-4052-4}} Her papers at [[Digital Games Research Association|DiGRA]] 2022 and [[International Symposium on Electronic Art|ISEA]] 2022 argue for machinima as a vehicle for counter-narratives from non-hegemonic regions.{{cite web|title=Isabelle Arvers — Digital Art & Games Decolonization|publisher=KIKK Festival 2021, Namur|url=https://2021.kikk.be/en/program/conferences-1/isabelle-arvers|quote=KIKK Festival, 2021}}{{cite web|title=Decolonizing the Imaginary through the Tactical Use of Machinimas|publisher=ISEA Symposium Archives|url=https://www.isea-symposium-archives.org/presentation/decolonizing-the-imaginary-through-the-tactical-use-of-machinimas-presented-by-arvers/|quote=ISEA 2022, Barcelona}} In 2024–25 she delivered the lecture “Machinimas, aux frontières du jeu vidéo et de l’animation” at the [[Forum des images]] in Paris.{{cite web|title=Machinimas, aux frontières du jeu vidéo et de l’animation|publisher=Forum des images, Paris|url=https://www.forumdesimages.fr/machinimas-aux-frontieres-du-jeu-video-et-de-lanimation|quote=Forum des images, Paris, 2024–25}}

== Other artistic practice ==

Arvers has performed as a WJ (webjay) since 2007 using WJ-S, a multiscreen live performance environment created by Anne Roquigny. Her sessions use simultaneous web browsing across multiple screens to explore relationships between art, video games, [[psychogeography]], and [[data visualisation]].

== Publications ==

=== Books and peer-reviewed chapters ===

* “Cheats or Glitch? Voice as a Game Modification in Machinima,” in ”VOICE: Vocal Aesthetics in Digital Arts and Media”, ed. Neumark, Gibson & Van Leeuwen, [[MIT Press]], 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-262-01398-6}}
* “Agency, simulation, gamification, machinima: An interview with Isabelle Arvers” (peer-reviewed), in ”Understanding Machinima”, ed. Jenna Ng, [[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]], 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-4411-4052-4}}
* “Decolonizing Art & Video Games”, PhD thesis, [[University of Lisbon|Universidade de Lisboa]] / LARSyS-ITI, defended 16 May 2024.
* “Counter fictions from the margins,” ”DiGRA 2022 Conference: Bringing Worlds Together” (peer-reviewed proceedings).

=== Selected essays and articles ===

* “This Spartan Life, un machinima au congrès,” ”[[Multitudes (journal)|Revue Multitudes]]”, 2012.
* “The game as a means of expression: tour Brazil,” ”DAT Journal”, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, 2020.{{cite web|title=The game as a means of expression: tour Brazil|publisher=DAT Journal, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi|url=https://datjournal.anhembi.br/dat/article/view/169|quote=Arvers, Isabelle, DAT Journal vol.5 no.1, 2020}}
* “La scène art et jeu vidéo queer, féministe et décoloniale au Brésil,” ”Poptronics”, 2020.
* “Un tour du monde en pause au Togo : Lomé+,” ”Makery”, July 2020.
* “La place des productions vidéoludiques locales dans le marché globalisé,” ”Immersion” n°6, 2021.
* “Un Dakar rétro-futuriste aux 10 ans de Partcours,” ”Makery”, February 2022.
* “Decolonizing the Imaginary through the Tactical Use of Machinimas,” [[International Symposium on Electronic Art|ISEA]] 2022, [[Barcelona]] (conference paper).

== Recognition ==

In 2016, a machinima project directed by Arvers about refugees in the [[Calais Jungle|Calais camp]] won the [[Lumen Prize]], an international award for art created with technology, as reported by Zippyframes.

In 2006, the documentary ”[[8 BIT: A Documentary about Art and Video Games]]”, in which Arvers appeared as a featured curator, had its world premiere at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York and was listed in ”[[Artforum]]”’s Top Ten Films of 2006.

In 2022, Arvers served on the Computer Animation jury of the [[Prix Ars Electronica]] in [[Linz]].{{cite web|title=Prix Ars Electronica 2022 — jury announcement|publisher=Ars Electronica Mediaservice|url=https://ars.electronica.art/mediaservice/en/2022/06/20/golden-nicas-for-artists-from-japan-the-usa-taiwan-colombia-and-austria/|quote=Ars Electronica, June 2022}}

In 2024, the Techn’Orisha collective’s installation “eFa DC”, of which Arvers is a co-creator, was selected for [[Now Play This]] at [[Somerset House]], London.

She has held residencies including Platohedro ([[Medellín]], [[Colombia]], 2017) and the CRACN residency in [[Martinique]] which gave rise to the Techn’Orisha collective.

== Selected jury memberships ==

Arvers has served on juries for digital art and game festivals, including the Computer Animation jury of the [[Prix Ars Electronica]] (2022), the Flashfestival Art, Webactivism and Game Awards ([[Paris]], 2003–2007), the Atopic Film Festival machinima section (Paris, 2009–10), the European Indie Games Days ([[Marseille]], 2012), the Play 15 Indie Game Festival ([[Hamburg]], 2015), and the Festival du film fantastique ([[Strasbourg]], 2017).

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* [https://www.isabellearvers.com/ Official website]
* [https://thecdm.ca/people/faculty/isabelle-arvers Isabelle Arvers at the Centre for Digital Media, Vancouver]
* [https://www.cienciavitae.pt/en/591E-9008-0948 PhD profile at CiênciaVitae (Universidade de Lisboa)]
* [https://digital-power.siggraph.org/piece/art-games-world-tour/ Art + Games World Tour at SIGGRAPH Digital Power]
* [https://www.8bitmovie.com/ 8 BIT Documentary (MoMA premiere, 2006)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arvers, Isabelle}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:French artists]]
[[Category:French art curators]]
[[Category:French critics]]
[[Category:Machinima]]
[[Category:Video game art]]
[[Category:Digital art curators]]
[[Category:Institut d’études politiques d’Aix-en-Provence alumni]]
[[Category:University of Lisbon alumni]]