April 2004 USC Press Release

Video Games Become Fine Art

A front page article in the March 26 Los Angeles Times asks the question as to whether the new digital world of video games should be receiving the same critical attention as fine art. While some question whether there is a deeper meaning to games, others disagree. Chris Swain, who teaches game design in the Interactive Media division here says, “There were lots of filmmakers in the early years who also felt what they were doing wasn’t art, that it was just entertainment. “ Ultimately, film became legitimized as an artistic medium, and Swain says the same will happen with games. To bolster that argument, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is presenting its first ever video games exhibit in May entitled “Into The Pixel.” The article also notes that USC offers the country’s only academic program focused on the artistic elements of games and is now supported by the recent Electronic Arts grant. Swain says that “games are the literature of the 21st century.” Another Interactive Media instructor, Tracy Fullerton says that if games are art, they deserve the same intellectual scrutiny as music, theater or dance. “At some point, I hope we will cease to be fascinated by the technology of games, and the questions will shift from how something is happening on a screen to why.”

While finishing up their grad work at USC’s Interactive Media division, a few students came up with the concept for the game Flow, which is linked on the sidebar of the blog. I recommend each of you plays Flow for a few minutes, as we will be discussing it for a while during our next class session. See you Monday.

-Quint

"It's cool to be able to create the kinds of games we play..."

THIS, is an article on pitching video games from the blog ars tecnica.


When (if ever) you get tired of reading stuff for this class remember you could be elsewhere... I think this place:



Has some openings... or this one...



As long as you don't live in Texas or massachusetts...

Paul B. Davis (Beige)

A founding member of the Beige collective, Paul is a nerd and a gentleman trapped inside the body of a 29-year-old from St. Louis who's lived in London for three years. Like most creative types, he has a range of projects on the go, including some Vice-related music bits. He also teaches Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London. Did you know he once released a record called "Enter The Mystical Faggot"?

Vice: When you get up in the morning, how do you decide whether to do art or music?
Paul: Usually I get worried about which one I'm sucking at. I worry that I do too many things not that well, rather than doing one thing really well, which is easier for a career. So I guess it depends if I need to finish a music project or if I have an idea for an art piece, then I'll do that. It's best when the two come together.

Like with your acclaimed album, The 8-Bit Construction Set?
Exactly. With The 8-Bit Construction Set I was able to merge conceptual stuff with a usable tool because there were weird art bits on the record. So I'd get emails back from DJs saying it's great – Mixmaster Mike was playing it – and then I'd get an email from a museum saying they wanted to exhibit it. In terms of the art/music thing, that did both.

Sounds smart. Where did you go study?
I went to Oberlin in Ohio. Basically all the people that I still collaborate with now went there. Two of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were in my class, Brian and Karen. I saw Brian last time I was in Chicago and he showed me his tour bus and he was excited because the previous group that had used that bus was Journey.

Video art and computer art – what's the difference?
The market for video art is 20 years ahead in terms of artist recognition and sales. When we were exhibiting our first shows, if we said it was new media art or computer art, no one cared. But if we called it video art, using the computer game as a readymade, then they'd love it.

What's with the B?
The B stands for Benjamin. There are so many Paul Davises and the B is for Google searches.

video interview:



text based interview via VICE

Cory Arcangel (Pt.2)

While searching the Youtube I just found the complete Mario Movie by Cory Arcangel in collaboration with Paper Rad...







On the other hand, this is also the Mario Movie...



Linkage: Look over on the right... check out Cory's blog.

...More to follow...

-Quint-

Cory Arcangel (Pt. 1)

I talked about Cory Arcangel during class... here is some of his work. You guys have 2 essays about him for the next class session. He is supposed to be speaking at Brown University in the Spring. I'll let you know more when I know more... he's young (under 30) and was in the Whitney Biennial in 2004 (when he was even younger...)...

Super_Mario_Clouds:




Naptime (_2002), Hacked Super Mario2 NES cartridge. Programmed music by Paul B. Davis.



I Shot Andy Warhol (_2002), Hacked Hogan's Alley NES Cartridge.



Objective: Hit Andy Warhol whenever he pops up, while avoiding hitting the Pope, Flavor Flav, and Colonel Sanders. The last couple seconds of this video clip are from the portion of the game where your goal is to knock the falling Campell's soup cans across the screen.

Mario Movie (w/Paper Rad)



Linkage: Cory's 2006 show at Team Gallery's Soho Space