Arianna B Gass

I am a scholar-practitioner with a focus on feminist and queer theoretical approaches to computational media. I look at the mechanics of representation within videogames, exploring how the technologies that facilitate gameplay (and, increasingly, appear on stage and in film) impact whose stories are told and how they are told. In my creative research practice with Obvious Agency, a theater cooperative I co-founded and am currently a worker-owner of, I bring game design techniques and technologies into live theatrical scenarios that center player agency and collaboration and aim to diversify participation in the fine and performing arts. My research draws on methodologies and perspectives from media studies, videogame studies, queer and feminist theory as well as devised, ensemble-based performance and performance studies. I received my PhD from the University of Chicago in English and Theater and Performance Studies in 2022 and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Film, Media, and Theatre Department at Georgia State University.