Good Job Arcade was a Teresa Tam project where she brought together a team of 9 other artists to create an interactive arcade experience utilizing work and play to explore themes of asynchronicity experienced by some diaspora individuals and communities that form into nostalgia.

This project delves into a longing that is rooted in what a diaspora individual lost or never had. On one hand, those who briefly return to their familial home reminisce how they can barely recognize it: faces of people are unfamiliar, spaces reshaped, and how they can no longer see themselves being able to permanently return. On the other hand, some have only ever dreamed of places their families have existed for generations, only to be shown that these places are imaginary, far removed physically and from reality. The Arcade is a space to navigate these nostalgic places that no longer exist or may have never existed at all. Games, in their algorithmic and recursive nature, can convey complex experiences in everyday life. Playing helps the individual to escape from the anxieties of life and into the reverie of familiarity and fantasy; momentary spaces away from every day where they can feel a sense of accomplishment and belonging.⁠

Contributors:

Alia Shahab (BFA ’12, Media Arts), Danny Luong, Jack Michielsen (BFA ’14, Media Arts and AV Technician), Jadda Tsui (BFA ’18, Media Arts), Jessica Szeto, Joleen Toner (BFA ’12, Media Arts), Jordan Baylon, Pan Priebe (BFA ’19, Sculpture), and Vicki Chau (BFA ’08, Media Arts).

My personal contribution involved writing parts of this instruction manual, and being involved in the conception of the video games in our exhibition. We created the video games from scratch and had custom controllers for them. We had scooter controls, rhythm games, trackball controls, three crane-based games, three video game controller based games, and a fitness section.

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