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Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Chop Suey'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.

Theresa Duncan

CD-ROMS

16 July - 04 September 2016

In summer 2016 we were delighted to present Small Wars and CD-ROMS, two exhibitions in partnership with Abertay University exploring the cultural impact of computer games, programmed and curated in partnership with Dr William Huber, Head of the Centre for Excellence in Game Education. The exhibitions coincided with Abertay’s hosting of the first joint International Conference of DiGRA and FDG 2016, from Mon 1 to Sun 6 August.

Theresa Duncan (1966 – 2007) was a writer, filmmaker and computer game creator who became known in the 1990s for developing graphic adventure games for girls. Duncan’s three completed games have been conserved and can be played in the exhibition.

A gladd table display at Theresa Duncan's exhibition shows miscellaneous items from the production of her three games, including CD and video tape covers of Sunday, Chop Suey and Zero Zero. Each cover features a computer drawing of a young girl.

In Chop Suey (Magnet Interactive, 1995, co-created with Monica Gesue), two young girls embark on a strange, hallucinatory adventure in their hometown. It was named Entertainment Weekly’s game of the year and won an ardent following. Games journalist Jenn Frank called it “one of the greatest, most important games I’ve ever owned”, while tech journalist Kara Swisher remembered that “while the CD-ROM business proved to be a bridge technology and Chop Suey did not endure the onslaught of the web, after seeing it, I have never forgotten it.”

Smarty (Nicholson Associates, 1996) focuses on its eponymous heroine’s visit to her aunt’s house for the summer, where she has a range of new experiences; while Duncan’s final game, Zero Zero (Nicholson Associates, 1997), is set on New Year’s Eve 1899 in Paris, where a little girl tries to find out what the future holds by talking to the people she meets in the city.

CD-ROMS is presented in association with Rhizome. Duncan's CD-ROMs were restored in 2014 by Rhizome as part of a project led by Dragan Espenschied, digital conservator, and Michael Connor, artistic director, in collaboration with Klaus Rechert.

Eddo Stern & Theresa Duncan: Artists' Video

Theresa Duncan: Exhibition Notes

Click here to download the Exhibition Notes for Theresa Duncans: CD-ROMS
Download
4.4 MB (PDF)

Exhibition images

The galleries in DCA set up for Theresa Duncan's exhibition. There are desks set up where visitors can play Duncan's games, and on the walls there are post-card size images from the games, which are in a graphical, animated style.
A gladd table display at Theresa Duncan's exhibition shows miscellaneous items from the production of her three games, including CD and video tape covers of Sunday, Chop Suey and Zero Zero. Each cover features a computer drawing of a young girl.
A box which says 'Zero Zero' on it contains a screen in the middle, where visitors to DCA can play Theresa Duncan's game 'Zero Zero'.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Zero Zero'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Sunday'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Chop Suey'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
The galleries in DCA set up for Theresa Duncan's exhibition. There are desks set up where visitors can play Duncan's games, and on the walls there are post-card size images from the games, which are in a graphical, animated style.
A gladd table display at Theresa Duncan's exhibition shows miscellaneous items from the production of her three games, including CD and video tape covers of Sunday, Chop Suey and Zero Zero. Each cover features a computer drawing of a young girl.
A box which says 'Zero Zero' on it contains a screen in the middle, where visitors to DCA can play Theresa Duncan's game 'Zero Zero'.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Zero Zero'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Sunday'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Chop Suey'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
The galleries in DCA set up for Theresa Duncan's exhibition. There are desks set up where visitors can play Duncan's games, and on the walls there are post-card size images from the games, which are in a graphical, animated style.
A gladd table display at Theresa Duncan's exhibition shows miscellaneous items from the production of her three games, including CD and video tape covers of Sunday, Chop Suey and Zero Zero. Each cover features a computer drawing of a young girl.
A box which says 'Zero Zero' on it contains a screen in the middle, where visitors to DCA can play Theresa Duncan's game 'Zero Zero'.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Zero Zero'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Sunday'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.
Postcard size illustrations on a white wall show the storyboard from Theresa Duncan's video game 'Chop Suey'. The drawings are colourful and drawn with a computer.