It was the educated and active sections of the African American community that had expected equal treatment in the design and implementation of the Columbian Exposition but was almost entirely shut out by the white majority. Since the Civil War, the African American community had made great strides, even against impossible circumstances, to develop an educated elite middle and upper-class. To be sure, racism ran rampant during turn of the century America but much of racism is ingrained, expressed more subtly and thus harder to identify and eradicate. The Midway Plaisance had a less formal air and was home to the first Ferris wheel as well as a number of international exhibitions. This choice of the European based Beaux Arts style was hotly contested by a number of American artists, such as the great architect Louis Sullivan, who felt that America should not show this type of deference to Europe but instead should highlight the new American styles. The name “White City” referred not just to the color of the building, however, it primarily referred to the new electric lighting used to illuminate the area at night. White City comprised immense Beaux Arts style buildings clad in white stucco thus linking to classical European greatness. The fair was divided into two main sections: the exposition itself, containing the “White City” and the Midway Plaisance. Indeed, it was none other than Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of New York’s Central Park, who laid out the fairground design. The exposition would be named to honor Columbus and no expense would be spared to create a spectacular show. The 400 th anniversary of Columbus’ “discovery” of the new world would mark the chance for America to show the world that she had come of age. However, America was responding to a later exposition, held in Paris during 1889, in which the Americans put up a poor showing and were upstaged by the French display of superior engineering prowess of which the Eiffel Tower was the pinnacle. These expositions began with the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations held in London in 1851. To briefly review, the Columbian Exposition was international in scope and Chicago had to beat out fierce competition within the United States in order to host the event. When placed in the context of the prior baptism and church cloister-like setting complete with robed religious NPCs, these figures are perhaps trying to place the historic figures within a biblical context as depicted in classical religious art. Non-European cultures were portrayed as barbaric, exotic, uncivilized and childlike.įigure 3: Sculptures of the founding fathers in Bioshock Infinite are shown dressed in ancient robes and labeled Father Franklin, Father Washington and Father Jefferson. The game takes an exaggerated view of these themes, presumably to explore a scenario – “what if America did not have a separation of church and state?” However, the game presents these ideas without nuance or complexity (see Figure 1and Figure 2) thus missing real opportunity for exploring these issues, their history and our own complicity.įigure 2: Screenshot from Bioshock Infinite(top) and an image from an 1893 Columbian Exposition book (bottom) illustrating the historically correct face of racism. The Columbia of Bioshock Infinite is modeled on the Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, which is used in the game to convey ideas of American nationalism and racism. The game takes place in Columbia, a floating city off the shore of northeastern America, an immense and beautifully realized game world. The result is greater immersion and buy-in for the player.įigure 1: Screenshot from Bioshock Infinite showing use of game objects Using objects to convey story elements like this requires the players to participate in meaning making by assembling the fragments into a coherent narrative. Players move through this world, absorbing narrative elements indirectly through video and audio “clips,” ephemera such as posters, and overheard snippets of NPC dialogue. Bioshock Infinite does a masterful job of incorporating historical elements to express the narrative and its themes beginning with the start of the game (see Figure 1).
Environmental objects such as texts, cell phones, voice recorders and ephemera are now being used to help convey narrative as well. However, the use of these objects has become increasingly sophisticated. Games have traditionally used assets and art to build a sense of place, to create a game world.
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