topical media & game development
immersion is not illusion
We live in a media-rich culture, full of images
and audio-visual stimuli.
Somehow, we never seem to get enough of that,
and after a day of work, sitting in front of a computer screen,
we still explore
youtube.com for more exciting clips.
The need for such audio-visual stimuli is not surprising,
when you consider the high visual complexity of
our daily (urban) life.
The ability to process (visual) data quickly,
seems to be a vital condition for our survival in
the information society, where reality becomes
an ephemeral phenomenon, as it is increasingly
represented by images.
Images have a special status in our (western) culture.
As Roland Barthes said, cited from [Semiotics]:
analogon of reality
Certainly, the image is not the reality but at least it is its
perfect analogon and it is exactly this analogical perfection
which, to our common sense, photography.
This can be seen as the special status of the photographic image, it is a message without a code.
In the light of our observation(s) on re-mediation, in section 2.3,
it is no surprise that early computer graphics took photo-realism as a benchmark.
In an extremely well readable discussion (with examples) on
video game aesthetics, David Hayward
observes that depending on your point of view, photo-realism is either a scourge or a grail.
The main tendency seems to be towards ultra-realistic cinematographic visuals.
However, fortunately, there are many examples where an aesthetically more viable approach
is taken, either by introducing cartoon-style elements, or by
abstractions suprpassing photorealism.
As member of the creative industry, that is multimedia or game developer,
you will contribute to our visual culture,
and hence it is worthwhile to reflect on what underlies the construction of
images and (visual) narrative(s): such as perspective, modality and composition.
Perspective is fundamental in our understanding of images.
Interestingly, it is a relatively new discovery, [Alberti],
dominating our visual culture from the days of the enlightment until now,
despite artistic revolts of the 20th century.
As we observed in section 9.4,
the notion of perspective describes both
perspective(s)
- the organisation of the image, as well as
- the (optimal) point of view of the viewer.
The intricate relation between viewer and image, dependent on perspective,
implies that when looked at from the 'wrong point of view',
there will be a distortion of the image.
The 'normal' perspective, as we know it, is the 'central' perspective.
Variants of perspective, such as the anamorphism depicted below, force the viewer into an abnormal point of view,
[Anamorphisms]. Better viewed online, watch it from the right, with you head close to the paper/screen.
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In a multi-dimesnional space often a change of perspective,
that is another point of view, brings to light many new aspects, not previously seen, or, in some cases,
the correction of a reducing or distorting
projection.
Instruction in drawing perspective, by constructing a horizon with so-called dis-appearance points,
used to be a standard element of art-school curricula, until recently.
Another interesting aspectof images is modality.
The notion of modality may be implicitly characterized by using a quote from [Semiotics],
where they discuss the realism of documentary film:
realism
... documentary modality of black and white realism ...
In a similar way, cartoons may be said to represent a particular modality,
although not so much as a kind of realism, but rather as commenting on a situation,
in a comic, or perhaps sarcastic or ironic way.
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More in general, (visual) modality may considered to be part of a visual grammar,
that, one way or another, defines the meaning of the image(s) of our culture:
According to [Semiotics]:
visual grammar
grammar goes beyond formal rules of correctness.
It is a means of representing patterns of experience.
It enables human beings to build a mental picture of reality, to make sense of their
experience of what goes on around them and inside them.
In section 9.3, we have discussed features of PANORAMA that were
inspired by compositional elements of the visual grammar proposed in [Semiotics].
There we observed that, however helpful these notions were, some cultural relativism is necessary,
because the meaning associated with visual elements and their composition does not adhere
to universal truth(s), but is rather the result of social processes involved in
the construction of meaning.
Interestingly, panorama displays, from which we took inspiration for our system supporting
social awareness (PANORAMA), were wide-spread popular art-form of the 19th century.
In a discussion of the origins of virtual reality, [VirtualArt] observes
virtual reality
the idea of virtual reality only appears to be without a history: in fact,
it rests firmly on historic art traditions, which belongs to a discontinuous
movement of seeking illusionary image spaces.
Linear perspective, as well as (perspective-related) atmospheric painting techniques
(think of fog in CG terms), contributed significantly to the success
of the immersive image spaces of the panaorama displays of the 19th century.
Often the panorama displays were not realistic in a social or political sense, though.
For example, the Mesdag Panorama depicted a rustic image of the Netherlands,
that in that time already had been destroyed by industrialization and urbanisation.
More in general, we may ask:
were these panaroma displays art?
[VirtualArt] unambiguously states:
immersion
the concept of immersion when implemented as an artwork surrenders most of the
essential properties of an artwork.
Although a discussion of what constitutes the essential properties of artworks
is far beyond the scope of this manuscript,
it is interesting to look at what properties an artwork may have,
which according to [VirtualArt] encompass:
properties of artwork(s)
- form -- aesthetic whole
- structure -- organisation of elements
- function -- context of display
- processuality -- (implicit) narrative structure
- statement -- existential/political implication(s)
Both multimedia applications and games, one way or another, share these
functions with art.
Where art is probably most disctinct is in the existential implications,
that is the way it makes a statement about our condition of being.
Nevertheless, in a somewhat different way, als games, whether serious or not,
do have implications with respect to our existence, and may be taken as a comment on
our existince
or an appeal to change our attitude towards it.
From a more educational perspective, we may observe, following [VirtualArt], that
collective memory
it is an apparent feature of the concept of immersion that it engages
with the spatial and pictorial concentration of the awareness of one's own people,
the formation of collective identity through powerful images that occupy
the function of memory.
In other words, the media have a strong impact on what we consider to be part of our domain of living.
However, evidently in our current visual culture, and
as anyone famaliar with for example the VJ-culture can testify to,
representation of meaning is not the primary target.
As eloquently expressed in [VirtualArt]:
ecstatic transport
using contemporary image techniques, immersive art very often
visualizes elements that can best be described as Dionysian:
ecstatic transport and exhilaration.
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From a more epistemological perspective, reflecting on how we gain knowledge
of the world around us, we may ask (ourselves) what role the media play in defining
our reality. And as a consequence of the observations above, what is the meaning
of this ecstatic transport, induced by the variety of audio-visual effects enabled
by our new technologies?
With respect to the notion of realism
[Semiotics] observe:
realism
a realism is produced by a particular group as an effect
of the complex of practices which define and constitute that group.
Basically that means that realism is a neytral term,
that is anything may be considered to be realistic,
as long as it is supported by a group or community.
This as a remakr, should make us careful in denouncing particular
styles as naive, as for example has been done with african art.
Extrapolating this relativistic notion of realism to
the commonly used notion of naturalism,
[Semiotics] state:
naturalism
each realism has its naturalism, that is a realism that is
a definition of what counts as real, a set of criteria for the real,
and it will find its expression in the right, the best,
the most natural form of representing that kind of reality,
be it a photograph or a diagram.
Indeed, for a scientist a diagram may be more natural than a colorful depiction
of atmospheric pollution!
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Let's return to the observation with which we started this section:
dominant paradigm(s)
the dominant standard by which we judge
visual realism (and hence visual modality) remains for the moment,
naturalism as conventionally understood, photorealism.
To make things slightly more complex, we may add that the visual modality
is the dominant modality of our culture, which means that we pay more attention
to what we see than what we hear.
According to feminist criticism, this may be de-constructed as expressing male dominance,
which puts higher value on the ability of sight, than of touch and the perception of sound.
Whether this is tur, and if so why, I leave to your own research.
Apparently, this might have a cause in our need(s) for survival, where hunting
was (once) more important than anything else.
Think about how our need to be partially aware of everything, as discussed in section 9.4,
might be related to that.
To conclude this section, let's briefly consider what is involved in creating
an immersive application such as PANORAMA,
or slightly more general, what is involved in what
Sidney Fels in a UIU04 keynote called designing intimate experience(s).
A key observation here is that people form relationships with objects external to their own self.
relation(s)
- response -- object disembodied from self
- control -- self embodies object
- reflection -- self disembodied from object
- belonging -- object embodies self
These relationships, or notions of belonging, are essential
in developing an aesthetics of interaction, a topic that will approach in
the next chapter.
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example(s) -- Monet's Nympheas
One of the recommendations I make to everyone who is planning to go to Paris
is to visit
Monet's Waterlilies which are exhibited
in a small gallery near the Louvre.
Monet, at that time at the at of his career, living in Giverney,
was well aware of the paradoxical nature of his Herculean effort.
As stated in
[VirtualArt]:
mass medium
thus, one year after Monet's death and fifty years after
his Impression soleil levant, a late example of modern
art reached the changed artistic landscape of the 1920's,
transported in a derivative of the mass medium
for images in the 19th century.
Being one of the innovators of painting in the early twentieth century,
Monet nevertheless endeavored in painting panorama-wide paintings,
with an aestehics of illusionistic immersiveness, however
with a painterly touch so refined that this series of works easily trancends
the ordinary illusionism of its predecessors.
Monet himself might have seen it as an exercise to improve his
painterly craft to the limits of perfection.
research directions -- information art
Given the rise of the creative industry it is not suprising
that initiatives have been taken to provide
academic curricula in creative technology.
The Institute of Creative Technology (LA),
which developed the Mission Rehearsal Exercise discussed in chapter 9,
may be taken as an example of an institute combining both technological and creative
expertise in its staff.
The new media or creative technology
play an important role in our society,
in that they contribute in envisaging our dreams and (through advertisement) selling
our reality.
[InformationArts], which provides an in any sense exhaustive investigation
in the relation between technology and art, observes:
new media
a consequence of the constitutive function of artistic-illusionary utopias
for the inception of new media of illusion is that the media are both
a part of the history of culture and of technology.
Although the research agenda's of scientists may easily conflict
with the artistic agenda's of artists, [InformationArts],
describes numerous projects where projects where artists and scientists cooperate, with mutual benefit.
[InformationArts] is together with [DeepTime], [VirtualArt] and many others, part of series
of books from MIT Press, dealing with the cross section between technology, art and culture
We repeat the quote, already given in section 1.1, that accompanies
this series of books:
cultural convergence
the cultural convergence of art, science, and technology provides ample
opportunity for artists to challenge the very notion of how
art is produced and to call into question its subject matter and
its meaning in society.
Examples of projects with both relevance science and art, may for example be found
in the area of tele-presence, to thematize, following
[VirtualArt]:
tele-presence
- notions of artificial life
- fusion with (infinite) virtual image worlds
- transformation of self into digital data
Such themes, apart from all technical problems involved,
deeply affect human aspirations, as expressed in our myths and movies:
human aspiration(s)
telepresence also combines the contents of three archetypal areas
of human aspirations: automation, virtual illusion and
metaphysical views of the self.
In particular, such notions may be used to analyse, or de-construct,
our behavior(s) on the web and our adoption of, for example, Second Life:
cybergnosis
what is being preached is the phantasm of union in a global net
community, cybergnosis, salvation through technology, disembodied as
a post-biological scattering of data that lives forever.
This, eveidently may lead to criticism(s), which after all is a function of art,
to make us aware of our limits, and the intrinsic qualities of our existence:
zealot(s)
what we observe are hyperzealots of a new technoreligion running wild,
zapping, excerpting and floating in cyberspace.
However, although we may encounter similar criticisms in popular culture, that is
cartoons and games, it is interesting to reflect on the difference between art and
the of new media applications that are somehow related to art.
Again following [VirtualArt]:
aesthetics
since the eighteenth century, aesthetic theories have regarded
distance as a constitutive element of reflection, self-discovery
and the experience of art and nature.
Aesthetic distance, however, is a notion that is also subject to criticism
from new developments within art itself, for example performance art,
which aspire a more direct existantial impact, as for example the works
of Marina Abramovic, discussed in chapter ,a href=1.html>1.
What is meant with creative technology or new media,
and what will constitute the tools of the new culture is not entirely clear.
For example, [InformationArts] observes that
tool(s)
aesthetic distance is no longer tenable when artist are engaging the same systems
used in general communications and research
Does that mean that we must adopt open source to make an artistic statement,
or shy away from the powerful visual effects enabled by for example shader technologies.
Of course not. But it does indicate the need to critically reflect on the
need and functions of these tools, and not adopt a technology, style or for that matter
realism simply because everybody does so.
Art, through its history, teaches us how to fight against both visions of dominance,
and dominant vision(s)!
(C) Æliens
04/09/2009
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