New Artist (Game Design)

An artist that I found particularly interesting in the field of game design is Arcangel Constantini. He, like David O'Reilly is an experimental artist who is interested in error aesthetics. His works are typically related to the dynamics of sound and visuals, low tech and performance installations, and and hardware hacking. Although he does not actually make games, he does use video games as a source for some of his work and his work with flash video is very game like in style. He is, in essence, looking at the game as an art object, which is conveniently the subject of his latest project.

a t a r i - n o i s e :
"Atari 2600 "VideoComputerSystem"
the icon of media culture
hacked as an audiovisual noise pattern generator keyboard,
a game info-deconstruction.

His latest work is an installation that uses the game platform from Atari 2600, one of the first video game systems to be highly successful and widely produced, selling 20 million units. It was also one of the first games to include multiple games on cartridges. Its low tech graphics and sound are an icon of the birth of video games and have influenced many contemporary artists. In Atari 2600 "VideoComputerSystem," the Atari game system is hacked and modified to produced random chaotic patterns of sound and graphics from the original programming when the user pushes the buttons. He considers the work to be a "deconstruction of raw material" and about as relevant to the original system as Jimi Hendrix's distorted guitar solos are to the guitar string itself.

I find this to be super interesting because, it just goes to show the expanse of the game world. I believe that it speaks for the expanding possibilities that lie ahead for our generation. As we continue to manipulate our computer creations, we are not only creating new things, we also look to the past for the "throwback." This a great hybridization of old and new technology that I find analogous the types of experimentation that we have been covering.

I also find it interesting that this work is compared to Jimi Hendrix, who I have long considered to be one of the more prolific experimental artists of the near past. Many of the other experimental works I have researched seem to identify their path in some way to that of Hendrix. Underneath, I have a chip on my shoulder about how our generation is viewed: our music/art is often viewed my adults as naive, mimetic and unoriginal and I am excited to find artists who still push the boundaries in way which critics can find analogous to a "true" artist of the past. I am often frustrated when adults and older folks, even the most creative ones, cannot contextualize the artwork of our generation: it is my beleif that they seem too focused on personal preference, a quality which, in my experience, serves to prevent novel and creative discoveries

When discussed in the same light as David O'Reilly, this artwork would support and present the concept of a new evolving art form; a contemporary language formed through the evolution of media and technology. With the expanding possibilities that emerge from the innovation of computer science, we are surrounded by media, unconsciously consuming its messages. On this path through technological evolution, we are put through systems and forced to follow rules to move forward. For example, when you play a conventional video game, you are commited to its system. You are forced to follow its directions, you pour energy into it to "beat it" but in reality, the game is just holding you as a mental prisoner, captive in a non-physical space, until it decides to release you in the game's resolution. When looking at the game as an art work, you understand how the consumers final expectations of satisfaction drive the consumer's motive to purchase a game and play it. Expectations drive response.Even the visual choices of larger and bolder text you read on this blog control what you take from it, cueing your focus to what I find most important, rather than allowing you to find your own truth in the words.

Another example of this is what I have dubbed the "app phenomenon." When purchasing a new smart phone, you are given a tool to access any type of media, and this is an empowering feeling. Smart phone consumers, although feeling empowered, are thrown into the complicated world of application or "app" sales. They have an expectation of being enlightened by their new decision to buy the phone and internally manifest that feeling by buying programs or systems that allow them to feel "current to the times" and "up to pace" with the evolution of society. In this way, they are once again unconsciously consuming media, deriving meaning from the visual experience of new technology, while once again being forced to submit to it's rules, conventions and constraints.

This artwork by Arcangel Constantini is a great example of this concept, because it demonstrates how someone might alter media and bend media to his or her will, taking solely the parts that they want from it rather than merely excepting what it gives; utilizing it's full resources without needing to worship or submit to its "magical ways."

Similarly, Hannah Piper Burnes a St. Mary's College graduate and professional artist who recently visited the school, mentioned this concept discussing her work involving approriation of new media. She stated that for us, as consumers of this new media, it is important that we be consious of its meaning; furthermore that we ought to have a right to possess it, control it, and manipulate it to our liking, in the same way that it controls us; the same way that it is inherently forced upon us as consumers.

All of these artists, in my opinion discuss an emerging trend of art consumption that is evolving as rapidly as our world and I find to be closely tied to our capitalistic economy. In all cases, it will be meaningfull and exciting to experience the blending of new and old as we travel further along, following the path of our creations.

Having already completed my video game design and looking back, I would have liked to make my game more representative of these concepts. In most senses, my game conforms to an existing convention, with a linear goal oriented narrative that the player commits himself or herself to. I found often that when researching games, I was looking for games that I knew of, rather than looking for new experimental ideas. Although this was primarily because of my novice game design skills, it was also due to my lack of knowledge about video game history. In any case, it is apparent how important research is to manifesting your ideas in a work of art, even when many obstacles may stand in your way.

Because of the dynamics of game design production and distribution, consumers demand new games all the time and designers are constantly reworking their ideas to meet these demands. Game designers exist in a world where games evolve in response and in competition to other games. Needless to say, games have come a tremendous way in the last twenty years, and it is often difficult to trace lines of influence in its short and furious history.

Although game design is rapidly branching out and hybridizing itself with influences from film, literature and graphic novels, it seemingly remained a field of special interest in its early stages. With this in mind, it is often hard to decode terminology and to fully conceptualize this field of art: a field that is quickly evolving AND contantly responding to itself as a genre. Having never researched video game works, I found it difficult to creatively alter my game.

Unfortunately, working with a team on a project means finding common ground, meeting deadlines, and working within your abilities, and I forced to compromise in my enthusiasm for some aspects of game design.