Private gaming with a PSP face scarf

by Conrad Quilty-Harper { Jun 24th 2006 at 3:35PM }

Joe Malia, a student at the Royal College of Art in London, created a series of face scarves with special attachments that, at least in the above example, "lets PSP players explore their passion in complete privacy". There's also a special design that fits neatly over a CRT; the perfect way to prevent your roommate from copying your finely honed Counter-Strike tactics.

Tags: Art, CRT, Geometry Wars, GeometryWars, Joe Malia, JoeMalia, London, RCA, Royal College of Art, RoyalCollegeOfArt, scarf, scarves

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

matt t @ Jun 24th 2006 3:53PM

nice try ken

Tim @ Jun 24th 2006 3:54PM

I'd really like to have the CRT monitor scarf. The PSP one is a good idea, even though it makes you look silly. (Don't want the little ones in the park to peek over your shoulder and see you with your PSPr0n).

mercatfat @ Jun 24th 2006 3:57PM

Game Hand Glove may have been slightly stupider, but at least it had an extreme mascot.

this simply makes you look like a tengu.

reefdog @ Jun 24th 2006 3:59PM

Awesome. Although I can't wait for the full-body version that cut me off from all external stimulus. Hopefully it won't inhibit my WiFi signal so I don't end up like one of those loners!

James Sorensen @ Jun 24th 2006 4:07PM

retarded looking, yet great in idea and purpose

PinkSpider @ Jun 24th 2006 4:11PM

A scarf for my CRT screen would be ace for stopping the sun stopping me playing CounterStrike during the day.

IseWise @ Jun 24th 2006 4:17PM

Its pantyhose!

Joe joe @ Jun 24th 2006 4:25PM

where is my ds scarf!!!!

knite @ Jun 24th 2006 4:28PM

it makes me wanna slap him in the face and run away before he can take it off...

Will @ Jun 24th 2006 4:29PM

If you wanted to play your PSP in private, maybe you shouldn't have gone out in public, methinks.

John H. @ Jun 24th 2006 4:33PM

Is it just me, or is there something disturbing about this picture? Something Lovecraftian....

TheBlunderbuss @ Jun 24th 2006 4:38PM

It's the greatest innovation for muggers and kidnappers alike!

Chronogears @ Jun 24th 2006 4:41PM

Knowing the world today, it was likely done Lovecraftian intentionally just to OH MY GOD SCARE US AS A SOCIETY WHAT HAVE WE BECOME WHERE THIS IS VIEWED AS SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE.

Note to the world! IT'S NOT.

But North Korea is still scary.

ChronoZaga @ Jun 24th 2006 4:46PM

lets PSP players explore their passion in complete privacy...and insures that your social life will never interfere with your gaming.

Shogan @ Jun 24th 2006 4:54PM

Don't sneeze with that thing on...

Michael McGuire @ Jun 24th 2006 4:55PM

Are PSP owners that embarassed to be seen these days?

I kid, I kid.

alex @ Jun 24th 2006 4:57PM

I LOVE IT now you wont see the Fist coming at your face when someone decides to steal your PSP

WamBam @ Jun 24th 2006 5:09PM

Very popular in Muslim countries...

Amir @ Jun 24th 2006 5:11PM

AAAAAAAAAAH! MY FACE! IT'S ALL PART OF SONY'S MASTER PLAN TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! AAAAAAAAAH! IT BURNS! IT'S ALLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! [wasn't that a slogan for some video game or console?]

Heh.

Capt. Castellanos @ Jun 24th 2006 5:20PM

to #10

hahahahaha
i second that!

i would buy it for someone
just to do that to them.

Glenn Mathis @ Jun 24th 2006 5:32PM

18. Very popular in Muslim countries...

Posted at 5:09PM on Jun 24th 2006 by WamBam 2 stars

THIS COMMENT IS OFFENSIVE TO RELIGIOUS BELIFES FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER. PLEASE TAKE IT DOWN BECAUSE IT IS OFFENSIVE TO ME AND MANY OTHERS FOR NO REASON WHATS SO EVER. Also many religious Catholics and Christians alike were the head scarf.

josh @ Jun 24th 2006 5:47PM

HAHAHAHA that jackass is gonna get mugged in the park wearing that.

Jay @ Jun 24th 2006 6:16PM

I live in Florida, that thing would pool 10 gallons of sweat on my PSP :P Besides, I'd probably be picked up for either being some sort of pervert or a potential terrorist.

Personally, I think it looks like some sort of creature out of Silent Hill ...

alex @ Jun 24th 2006 6:24PM

I think he's just trying to avoid the shame of the eventual public knowledge that he actually USES the PSP for anything other than some type of Flux Capacitor extender, or whatever the fuck Sony claims it does now.

Dark_Jedi @ Jun 24th 2006 6:29PM

@21, Whats belifes?

VERY POPULAR IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES...Look I can use caps too.

hey alex @ Jun 24th 2006 6:35PM

Is it just me, or does it look like the PSP has reached out and swallowed your face?

Comradetrotskii @ Jun 24th 2006 7:07PM

Is this supposed to be art? What statement is trying to be made? That we suffer a loss of privacy in public places? How about making a statement that dressing like a complete tit in public will lead to a sacrifice of your dignity.

'Artists' need to start paintaing again. With paint.

Amir @ Jun 24th 2006 7:32PM

hey alex, that's what I was going for with my comment.

Willo @ Jun 24th 2006 7:44PM

Why do artists need to start painting again Comradetrotskii? Wouldn't that make them painters? If you find me an adequate definition of art that is limited to the interaction between paint and ing, then i'd love to know it. art is not so easy to define.

Comradetrotskii @ Jun 24th 2006 8:34PM

Have I touched a nerve Willo, do you consider youreslf to be an 'artist'?

In no way am I saying that art is limited to paintaing (that is ridiculous), and I'm certainly not going to give any definition of art because it is far too contested and sensitive a subject.

Perhaps the last line of my original post didn't come off as I intended it to. What I was trying to convey is that most so called 'artists' are nothing of the sort and would be better sticking to painting, which is the classic example of art and probably what springs to mind for the layman when confronted with the word art.

The more I think about it thogh the more I believe that the subject of the article would be better sticking to painting by numbers. Puttng a stocking on your head to make some pansy assed social comment is not art.

epobirs @ Jun 24th 2006 9:11PM

Looks like an accessory for a burkha. For that ultrareligious lady who hates all aspects of modernity but has to have a round of LocoRoco every once in a while.

Glenn, get stuffed. I defy you to point out any large population of practitioners of a Judeo-christian derived faith that hasn't spent centuries under Islamic rule that can be scene expecting women to dress in the way most commonly associated with hardine Islamic nations. Certainly no Western nation has a large presence of non-Muslims who think women are such an unbearable presence and/or temptation that they're reduced to shambling mounds of cloth whenever they go out in public. A few extremist cults numbering in the thousands are hardly significant compared to entire nations with hundred of millions of women treated as chattels.

You're right in one aspect. On a religious basis it has no reason. The Koran nor the associated writings make no hard and fast rules about how women should be required to dress. This is just a form of barbarism held over from tribal eras. The difference is that in all the world the countries that go the farthest to make antiquated tribal mindsets a part of modern law are almost without fail under Islamic rule.

That said, it is also offensive to you for no reason whatsoever. It has no religious basis. Do you belong to some 7th Century tribe? Do you really think we're supposed to avoid making honest observations and draw analogies just because you choose to have a sore spot on certain subjects? This is America, bubbie, we don't play it like that.

epobirs @ Jun 24th 2006 9:18PM

It's part of a treatment regime for agoraphobics.

It's to let groups of PSP owners go multiplayer while ignoring the dismaying lack of games supporting internet play as opposed to local WiFi play only.

It's a test setup for a new GPS add-on for the PSP. Timmy here must navigate on foot to his local pub while cut off from all sight of the world around him and relying on the PSP to guide his every footstep.

Oops, not that way, Timmy!

Oh my. We're going to need another Timmy!

Cameron @ Jun 24th 2006 9:18PM

Let's just say... if I were drinking coffee, it would be all over my computer screen now. Going from the title of the entry to seeing the picture was just too classic.

kc @ Jun 24th 2006 9:28PM

isnt the control scheme for the psp hard enough, i dont think a layer of knit cotton is going to make games any easier to play

Chowweekly @ Jun 24th 2006 9:43PM

"THIS COMMENT IS OFFENSIVE TO RELIGIOUS BELIFES FOR NO REASON WHAT SO EVER. PLEASE TAKE IT DOWN BECAUSE IT IS OFFENSIVE TO ME AND MANY OTHERS FOR NO REASON WHATS SO EVER. Also many religious Catholics and Christians alike were the head scarf." -Glenn Mathis

Wow. You need to be a little less sensitive. Actually, make that a lot less sensitive. His statement basically says "Muslims are known for wearing head scarves" which is completely true and you admit it. How is that offensive?

I think you summed it up best: "IT IS OFFENSIVE TO ME FOR NO REASON WHATS SO EVER." I took out the "AND MANY OTHERS" part for truthiness.

Angry Nonbeliever @ Jun 24th 2006 9:47PM

#21: I find your comment offensive, I feel all religions are cults. Please delete yourself from the Internets.

jopojelly @ Jun 24th 2006 10:16PM

Best comments ever everybody.....stars all around!

jopojelly @ Jun 24th 2006 10:19PM

#1-36: I find words and text offensive, please delete these comments and remove yourself from life.

The ZeroCorpse @ Jun 24th 2006 10:39PM

I find it offensive when others say they are being offended!

Delete everything!!!

WamBam @ Jun 24th 2006 10:43PM

I'm sorry if my post was offensive to anybody. Now, I'm going to play Socom Bravo team and blast some... psp sleeve wearing bad guys.

xbox360dsPSP @ Jun 24th 2006 10:58PM

Heck, I can see it being functional. My PSP screen is not nearly bright enough to use in direct sunlight. The DS Lite on the other hand -- glorious.

Matt Selnekovic @ Jun 24th 2006 11:05PM

While preventing prying eyes from looking at his PSP, it prevents him from identifying the person who threw a cinderblock at his head.

Lithium Mirage @ Jun 25th 2006 12:34AM

He's hiding the fact he's using the Metal Gear Acid 2 3D attachment.

sir stank @ Jun 25th 2006 12:50AM

Just think about it. Right now someone in the very far future & parallel universe to ours is laughing there ass off as they read this article.

Brandon @ Jun 25th 2006 2:22AM

I guess no one else came up with this reaction, but my first reaction was "That pervert is looking up porn in public. In front of children and stuff."

Rare Hare @ Jun 25th 2006 2:26AM

@ Comradetrotskii:

simply put, if you cannot provide us with a definition of "art", don't try to tell us what is and what is not art. you may not consider something like dancing or hair-styling forms of art, but to a lot of people they are.

art does not require a "statement". art doesn't even require that you enjoy or understand it. it doesn't change the fact that it is art if the artist intends it to be art.

Comradetrotskii @ Jun 25th 2006 11:11AM

I'm not providing a definition of art because like I say it is far too contested and sensitive, as evidenced by the fact that two people have now tried to ram what was a sarcstic and throwaway comment about this guy being a tit down my throat.

You have made assumptions about what I consider to be art based on seemingly nothing and also inferred from thin air that I suppose all art requires to be making a 'statement'. I never implied that in any way. I was referring to the subject of the article who believes he is making a statement through art by wearing a sock on his head and playing a PSP. This is not art, and if it is perhaps you could explain to me how, go on enlighten me, please.

I would contest this however: it doesn't change the fact that it is art if the artist intends it to be art.

Part of my defintion of art would be that it requires the consent of at least one viewer in order to be thought as of art. Would it be art if I defecated and called it art? No, I don't think so.