Suki Lee: the Hidden Past reminds us to remember all kinds of the contribution made by women in the early days of the gaming industry. Donald Duck’s Speedboat was an Atari 2600 game created by Suki Lee, but was never released internationally; it only sold for a brief period of time in Brazil.

The games we see and remember are typically very successful.  It is important to remember, however, that there are several games created in the past that were either unreleased or simply forgotten. In addition to celebrating Suki Lee as a women game developer, we also wanted to shed light on those games that were created with painstaking work but are erased from history. Suki Lee: The Hidden Past uses Donald Duck’s Speedboat as a symbol for celebrating how innovative attempt is critical–even if they are not all “blockbusters.” We should remember all work, not just the classics.

Upon first glance, Suki Lee: The Hidden Past is just an empty frame with two additional frames on the inside. The lack of content in a frame is supposed to spark curiosity, enticing participants to approach it. As participants get closer to the frame, they trigger the distance sensor which transforms the ECD screen.  When participants are less than 30 inches away, the two inner displays will slowly change and a images of Suji Lee and the Donald Duck Speedboat will appear slowly. As participants step away, the displays become invisible again — waiting for the next person to uncover its existence.

We used paper and wood for the frames of the piece. The red wooden frame symbolizes Atari women while the white inner frames symbolize the untouched pieces that never got to see the world. In addition, the ECD displays are used to accent the “hidden” nature of the Atari women and unreleased game.

Concept, Art, Creation: Linda Lai, Yifan Lin, & Amanda Zhu