Critical Evaluation.

Concept art takes on many forms such as simple drawings , to more full colour high quality paintings, as I have researched in other posts , the both methods all use the same artistic methods. The digital way of how to paint a landscape scene can be seen on this video,” http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x81f9f_how-to-paint-landscape-digital-conc_creation” he uses lots of layers to create the final piece and also custom brushes to put the trees into the composition, custom brushes allow lots of duplicate images be placed onto the canvas, this is regarded by some people as cheating. But this speeds up the process of digital painting, but also it’s still an art to create good custom brushes. Also not games related, book releases of the concept are behind Films, such of those from Pixar, go into a lot of depth about how they created their art pieces and why they did that, how they did that, which is the same way as classical art pieces are spoke about such as “Carl’s clothing was extremely caricatured. His silhouette needed to look like a square when he was wearing clothes. But what did his underlying body need to look like in order to support that design? We had to guess what his body shape should look like think of it as a skeleton for his clothes”.[1] This critical thinking of their work is throughout all of the various art books I have such as the “Art of the LoTR’s”,”The Art of Guild Wars” and the “Art of UP”. All of the books, going into detail on how the pieces of art are created, why they were and how this lead to further development to the final work.

[2]

[3]
Digital games as art, a nice little video, showing various games and how a person thinks they are seen as art.
[4]
Also can the final outcome, of digital games be classed as art, of course they have all the imputs of  art such as the concepts,character models(sculpture),narrators.But does the final product, indeed a piece of art using lots of different processes and new media, or is it simply a product, to sell to the mass public to gain profit, the only difference between this and art is that games are mass produced and not limited to one off pieces ,or limited runs of 10 or so.[5]

 People in the games industry without a doubt, count their games as art,for the same reasons that use new media, for a new age, a few years ago modern art was , called modern, but now perhaps it’s just art and games/films can be the new modern art.But their are still those that disagree, that because games are made by corporations it’s about money more than the artistic form.

                                                                                                            [6] In this short video, the reason I could think that games company would’nt give away their games is that alot of money and resources is put into the making of a game, and it just wouldn’t be ideal, but there are small flash games that are free to play on the internet, but I could see perhaps COD:Modern Warfare 3 , given away , it just doesn’t make sense and most art is commissioned to be made, and thus isn’t be made for free.

Also after watching the video again, i knew i reconised the voice, It's infact the game designer Paul Barnett's personal youtube account, Paul Barnett is the creative director behind " Warhammer Online",this video was uploaded in 2007, so possibly his views have changed since working on a major game,he did lots of podcasts about the game during the development which i recieved in emails, small world huh,more info can be found on him on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Barnett_%28video_game_designer%29.

I think that games are on the verge of been classed as art,but the industry would rather just make games to sell, that push the ideal’s further such as this piece of text I got from an article. “Until developers and gamers expect more of themselves and of videogames, the financers and publishers of videogames will continue to clone the latest proven bestseller rather than innovate new ways to challenge gamers intellectually and emotionally. The consequences will be an endless procession of homogenous titles, one barely distinguishable from the next. Unique and pioneering games like Rez will disappear; the diversity of content will continue to dwindle; and the dilemma of whether videogames are art will no longer be an issue because no one will be inspired to ask the question”[7]So if the games industry really would want their products to be considered art, they should do something about it pretty soon, before the same titles , with just subtle changes are over the place and the games market then becomes stale , but I doubt this will happen.

Exhibiting concept art and games, is it possible for these to be placed into a conventional gallery or indeed have their own game galleries. There already seems to be an emergence of some forms of exhibitions of games, such as “The Art of Video Games” which is been held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum during the second quarter of 2010, the exhibition itself will contain “It will include multimedia presentations of game footage, video interviews with developers and artists, large prints of in-game screen shots, historic game consoles, and a selection of working game systems for visitors to play. In addition, the public will be asked to assist with the selection of materials for the show by choosing the games that they feel best represent particular moments in the overall timeline.”[7] So it will include a lot of material, another example of games been exhibited is the “Game On” exhibition which toured the world, it included examples of games from concept to the final packaged good, with such titles as “Grand Theft Auto,Pokemon,The Sims”[8]

Another type of exhibition for games, as I would see count is the trade shows such as “E3” and “PAX”, which the leading game studios showcase and reveal information on new games, hardware.These trade shows, have been gaining more and more popular with them gaining double the amount of attendees as the year before.E3 the most popular of the events for a couple of years was by invitation only and for game professionals or journalists. The conventions are mostly American based but several have started been held around other parts of the world such as Tokyo and also the new “Gamescom” which had its first show last year, which had more visitors than E3.

These could be seen as the true exhibition of games, although not open to the public as they should be, in a couple of year’s time I think that the popularity of games will increase further to them opening them up to all people. If not the smaller exhibitions will gain popularity and then be more demand for them and also from that more galleries  displaying works from games and games displayed themselves. This could also lead to “Games Only “galleries, sponsored by Nintendo or Sony for example.

To curate an exhibition of games you would need to use lots of different  media types across, prints of screenshots, game demo set ups,also videos’ perhaps of the developers talking about their process and thoughts of the game. Game exhibitions would be a lot more focussed on interactivity than normal exhibitions, as you would be playing the art, rather than just viewing it. This leads me to think that games can be exhibited as art, and should be, sure the exhibition would need modernising to cope with the game setups, but the masses of concept could fill the walls. As there aren’t that many exhibitions in the UK, It would also build quite a bit of revenue for the galleries themselves. So to answer the question of my blog, yes I would consider Games to be art and yes games can, and should be exhibited amongst galleries and classical art and sculpture.

Based on a fantasy creature , but no doubt could this sculpture be exhibited in a gallery.Illidan [8]

[1]Thomas Jordan[2009]The Art of UP[Book]pg 42

[2]Tim Hauser[2009]The Art of UP[Book]pg109 ,Top Image[Lou Romano 2006],Bottom Image[Ricky Nierva 2006]

[3]Tim Hauser[2009]The Art of UP[Book]pg76

[4]Games,A Respected Art.[2007]Justgameplay23(youtube name) ,also credited is "Visionary" [Youtube]

[5]IGN's Top 100 Game Developers:Games or Art?[2009]IGNentertainment[Youtube]

[6]Games are not art[2007]Paul Barnett[Youtube] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Barnett_%28video_game_designer%29.

[7]Chi Kong Lui [2003]Are Videogames Art?[Website] http://www.gamecritics.com/arevideogamesart.

[8]Blizzard[2006]Ilidan[Sculpture].Held At Blizzard HQ.

Bibliography

Books

Tim Hauser The Art of Up [2009]   Andy Clarke, Grethe Mitchell Video Games and Art [2007]

Websites

www.google.com

www.youtube.com

http://www.gamecritics.com/arevideogamesart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Barnett_%28video_game_designer%29

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thewayoftheassassin.nl/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/1920x1200_SanMarco.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thewayoftheassassin.nl/tag/wallpaper/&usg=__C4TKn1HO05UJfdmtJ2pRkr2oU0M=&h=1200&w=1920&sz=1761&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=Y9T6YLwmRfZhZM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsan%2Bmarco%2Bassassins%2Bcreed%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/Art.html

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/galleries/game_on.aspx

http://www.01ns.eu/lacornice/imp022.htm

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74118

http://www.cracked.com/blog/defending-the-habit-10-video-games-as-modern-art

http://autofish.net/clysm/art/writing/essays/2002s_videogamesasart.html

http://kotaku.com/5419173/the-art-of-video-games-comes-to-the-smithsonian-in-2012

http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=4964

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Entertainment_Expo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade_Expo

http://www.gamescom-cologne.com/

http://www.e3.net/

www.en.wikipedia.org

Any other images/videos/quotes, are referenced in each post.

Annotated Text 2 Good Art, Bad Art , Good Games,Bad Games.

The next source of information on discussing whether games are indeed art or just entertainment.Games are compared alot to films as the text below describes,they both use lots of processes to get completed, and are mass produced for entertain purposes, Films are also seen as a type of art, but they are both unique to themselves,games rather than just sitting there watching the story unfold, games immerses the player within and give them more options for their gameplay.I came across this piece of text amongst the pages of "Video Games and Art"[1]

(click to enlarge)

From the first paragraph , the writer also compares the various processes which make up games and how indeed they are similar to how classic art is made, but new digital versions. He also says that the games and films , use art rather than actually been art objects themselves, which is quite true , but differs to the views of people that define art, I would dissagree with both , and say that games use art , to become what they, then also as art objects after they have been created.
In the next paragraph he explains how good games, which are full of artistic influence and have a very strong art team such as those of Guildwars.Such as the piece below [2]

And also the art team of "The Force Unleashed"[3]

Compared the not so, rubbish concept art but has alot lower quality , such as these from "Banjo Kazooie:Nuts & Bolts"[4]

 Although all the pieces are indeed art , the one at the bottom , wouldn't typically be able to be exhibited ,as its more designs than a high quality digital painting.Games also have similar properties to the art as the text says "a similar problem arises in distinguishing which paintings are art",it also compares that some paintings have more enjoyment value than others, which is the same said for games.By also understanding the new medium, of photoshop more, amazings pieces of work can be created by elevating the understanding of the media.So could game art really be exhibited in a gallery? I think so , if presented in the correct way,could games be set up in exhibitions to be played, i dont think so , but you can view the art behind the work, and then can go home and "play" the art.

[1] Andy Clarke and Grethe Mitchell [2007] Video Games as Art.

[2] Guildwars Art Team[2009]Snow Battle. Available at:

[3] LucasArts[2008]Star Wars The Force Unleashed Concept Art.Available at:

[4] Microsoft [2008]Bknab_concept_full.Available at:

Research Task

For the research task I will be looking at screenshot from the game which has then been slightly edited into a piece of concept art from the game “Assassins Creed 2”.Then comparing it to a painting of the same area, as assassin’s creed is based in the 15th century Venice, its more fair to compare as it’s the same location. I will then compare the two images, and how they used the same techniques to create it and how they also differ. So starting with the classical painting ...                

 The painting was from an italian website so unsure whether it was painted during the period,or a reproduction piece,either way I'm sure its oil paint on canvas and is suitable for the comparision[1].

 This is a wallpaper that was for advertising the game,made by using the ingame models and edited abit on the way it was set out, as the area is not this vast ingame after a little run around in the game to check it out closer, so maybe is a very carefully done composite instead of  screenshot minus the character and HUD.It's also very usefull as the angles are nearly the same, so is better for comparing between the two images.

So to compare the to two images im going to look at the artistic processes of each and which ones have in common, for the first image the processes are drawing to get the image in place , the composition right,by doing this they get everything in correct before going into paint.Much like how digital artists work, by blocking out the basic shapes together , before getting deep into detail,a good example of these is the Dylan Cole "Landscape Matte Painting" Dvd.[2] In regards to the AC2 concept art , it looks like the main part of the Basilica San Marco is the 3D ingame model and the rest is a composite painting,by doing this the artist has used multiple artistic proccesses to create the image, which uses the more advance technology of today , yet it is stil not classed as "real" art.

The use of lighting is the only noticable difference the classic painting uses a more real world lightning and isnt as vivid as is an "as it is ", the concept art using more contrast tones to create a darker mood , probably set to match the game.The concept art to me looks more like an actual picture of the San Marco[3] rather than the

classical painting, It looks more sharpe,lighted correctly.The classical piece would have been the highest of the technology to create such an artwork, but due to the new advancements new more higher quality,accurate work can be created.

But also this high quality,design can now be applied to ingame enviroments , gone are the rough 8bit graphics but new , rich enviroments that are amazing and beautiful to look at from every angle, just like it should be such as this in-game screenshot which also shows the San Marco in the background.[4]

I have visited Venice on holiday once , and seen the san marco up close, and it is remarkable that a game has got to near 99% on how things look, its amazing, if all games are up and coming with graphical looks like this, with fine concept art, there is without a doubt that games are art , and could be exhibited in galleries.

Screenshots, taken ingame by me, showing the different angles, as compared to the paintings and the released images by Ubisoft and the photograph of the area.

[1]Artist Unknown[c.1550] Reception of the Ambassdor in the Doge's Palace[painting].Held at
N.A.Availableto view at http://www.01ns.eu/lacornice/imp022.htm.

[2] Dylan Cole [2009]The Techniques of Dylan Cole 1 Introduction to Landscape Matte Painting[internet] Available from:

[3]Unknown[2003] The Trip to Italy - June 2003 Venice (Venezia)[photograph] Available at http://gardkarlsen.com/italy_venice.htm.

[4]Ubisoft[2009]Screenshot[Photograph] Available at http://gamernode.com/upload/manager//News%20Images/assassins_creed_2_sex1254338552.jpg

 



                                                                                   

The Philosophy of What Makes Art, Art.

For this post I will be studying a piece of text that was originally part of a radio show broadcast, which the topic was “What is art?”, the show had the philosopher , Alexander Nehamas who was discussing the philosophies behind hide, what classes as art, does art have to be beautiful or does whatever the someone calls art , makes it become art and not just a fancy object. The interview/discussion can be listened to online here http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/Art.html .Underneath were some listening notes that i have quoted to compare how, concept art and games are relative to this philosophers ideas of what is art.

Key parts have been highlighted and numbered to create points on which to discuss on how these are comparable to games.

“Nehamas thinks that the desire to make something special is characteristic of the artistic process. Is there a legitimate difference between high  and low art? A lot of people think art is only the stuff hanging in the museums. Historically, much art was made for popular entertainment. Does this mean we should expect popular culture like Seinfeld to be the only thing to survive the passage of time? Nehamas points out that we need to consider why we would want an algorithmic way of deciding what is art.

What is the connection between beauty and art? Nehamas thinks that all art is beauty although it may not all be pretty. Beauty, he says, involves whether you like it. Much modern art is engaging although it isn't pretty. What does art do for us? Nehamas says that primarily it is for us to enjoy.
Can just anything be art? Nehamas points out that it is hard to convince people that something is art. There is also status involved in art, like Bach's commisioned pieces. A lot of art is inaccessible because it requires background knowledge, but many people think that it should be immediately engaging. John points out that some art is aimed at a small group of viewers. Nehamas thinks that it is difficult to appreciate any art, even great art. He says that we need to learn how to appreciate  art, from paintings and sculpture to television and punk rock. “

                A Oil painting of a market scene which doesnt differ that much from concept art below[1]

The first thing he mentions is that the desire to make something special is the artist processes involves, I’ve already mentioned the processes behind classical art such as paintings and how it’s similar to the processes of new digital art methods and the shear amount of different methods used to make a  game should surely make it count as art?.Whole teams of different types of digital artists are employed to create games, firstly there is the concept artists that take the lead developer idea’s and create many different rough drawings of what things should look like. Then after that other artists are employed to draw up more details pictures and images to work through, they mainly use digital methods, but classic styles of paintings  can be made, and pencil drawings. To create the actual in game model’s 3d modellers’ have to hand build variety of buildings and characters to populate the world, which is similar to the way architects work. Using all these different artistic processes, so games have this section ticked. He also says that historically art was for entertainment which games are for, seeing how many copies of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 were sold, 3.6 Million[2],that’s a huge amount of popular entertainment. Also a recent research shows that

“There the number of games consoles in use has shot up from 13.5 million a year ago to 22 million this month, with enough consoles for eight out of every ten households in the country to have one.

This includes just the 'third generation' consoles – Microsoft's XBox 360, PlayStation3 and Nintendo's Wii – not the older consoles”[3]
So games consoles are becoming more and more popular, this survey also doesn’t include PC games , which could also boost the figures up more, so this could mean that the biggest popular entertainment art is in fact the games industry and games. He also considers how art isn’t always beautiful either, such as same games can be art such as the scenery in “Assassin’s Creed” which is beautiful but the darkness and death in “Modern Warfare 2” , isn’t classed as beautiful. He then goes onto say we should appreciate art in all its forms from paintings to punk rock, I think this to includes games.

                                                 Assassins Creed Concept Art, Depicting a Market Scene.[4]

[1] Pieter Aertsen[c.1550] Market Scene[Oil Painting on Oak].Held at Alte Pinakothek,Munich.

[2] Alice O’Connor [11/2009]Activision Boasts Modern Warfare 2 Sales Figures.Broken Records[Internet], Available from:< http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61298> [Accessed January 6^th 2010]

[3] Harry Wallop [01/2009]Video games:eight out of ten homes own a next-gen games console[Internet], Available from:< http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/4248136/Video-games-eight-out-of-ten-homes-own-a-next-gen-games-console.html> [Accessed January 6^th 2010]

[4]Luke Wallace[2006]Assassin’s Creed Concept Art[Digital Painting].Held at: N.A Available at < http://www.realmmedia.com/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=3908>

What Is Art?

To first define if games are indeed art I have to find out what is art itself and suitable definition of all types of art such as, paintings,drawings,sculptures and also film and music.The most common thought of art is that it renaissance paintings, such of those of Da Vinci.But art is ever changing, the first known “art” as it were caveman paintings such as the one below[1], These early pieces of works used the methods of finger painting into soft clay of the rock they only had used 3 colours to create these works, red was made by using iron oxide from the rocks and also manganese dioxide, by using the simplest technology they stil managed to create works of art that can be understood and appreciated by people today.

The technologies advanced far past this first art , to create new pieces of art by using the technology of watercolours,oil paintings,sculpture. The Greeks used many different types of materials in their sculptures including stone, marble and limestone as these were abundant in Greece. Other materials such as clay were also used but due to their brittle nature very few have survived. Greek sculptures are very important as the vast majority of them tell us a story about Gods, Heroes, Events, Mythical Creatures and Greek culture in general.[2] Art of around these era’s including medieval art and the renaissance , used art as a form to show the culture of that particular time, it was also for the very rich such as kings and governors who were depicted heavily in art of this time.

 [3]                  [4]

Since then art has become more mainstream and also available for all types of people not just the rich, but the rich still most only own the art.Modern art still perceives the culture of the times and the processes used for sculpture , paintings still seem most unchanged, just new techniques are created and the technologies advanced.The first of these is the rise of the camera/photography, artists used to draw/paint the portraits of people of the time , but that is no longer the case as camera’s can take a picture in less than 1 second, which takes an artist weeks to complete,this made portrait art out of date and so they created new styles of art such as Abstract art, to do what the camera could not.With in mind , the use of computers in art using programs, such as Adobe Photoshop or Coreal Painter has made abstraction out of date, but with this matter, you can paint whole portraits within these programs much in the way of classical art but without picking up a paintbrush, or spending money on canvas’s , does that make Photoshop creations not count as art? As it is not real infront of you , but then you can print them off and hang them in frames similar to classic art, but the art world seems to think these are false.Is it because of the fact of the “One Off” of classic art, but this could also be applied to digital art, deleting the file after the piece has been printed for the canvas.
Digital art in all forms uses the same fundamentals as classic art,colour theory,composition and techniques, sculpture programs use the same process as classical statues, adding basic shape and then add details to create the final piece.Perhaps it’s the way that by using the technologie of a computer that makes it seem void as art, because its easily editable, that mistakes can be taken away easily.To me digital art is the new media to use for art , its just a technological advancement much to how the media’s and supplies used to create classical art has changed over the centuries to what it is now.

[1] Caveman Painting.[2006][Online Image].
Avaliable from: http://www.salamiran.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=166&Itemid=252
[Accessed January 6th 2010]
[2] Author Unknown [n.d]Greek Sculpture[Internet], Available from:< http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Art/> [Accessed January 6th 2010]
[3] Hans The Younger Holbein.[1540] Portrait of Henry VIII[Oil Painting on Panel].Held at Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome.
[4] Phidias [Circa 432 BC] Statue of Zeus at Olympia [Ivory and Gold-Plated Bronze] Held at Temple of Zeus,Olympia,Greece.

Introduction to Games As Art.

For  my critical studies blog , I will be discussing the subject of Games as art? But more specifically the way in which could game art be displayed and exhibited in Galleries, such as the Tate Modern.I will also look at games that could also be added into exhibitions as installations,Firstly I will discuss about what is art?,What is a game? And which the two have in common ,the techniques used by past artists and the techniques of concept artists and the media’s that they use.What is the qualify’ing rules to enter art competitions ,such as the Turner Prize.Also look at the works of past winners/nominees and how they compare to conceptual artist’s work and digital games.For the first part of this assignment I will study a text which is discussing what defines art.

Conceptual Art Is it really an artistic process or the scrawl's of madmen?

(Image is from  http://guildwars.incgamers.com/gallery/data/526/concept2.jpg , But is property of Arenanet)