Dear Scientific Department of Stating the Blindingly Fucking Obvious,
How would one go about joining your programme? I find your "What colour is the sky?" research absolutely intriguing.
Love and cuddles,
AC
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
...
Arthur C. Clarke has died.
He was the greatest Science Fiction writer alive. The world is utterly, utterly diminished by his passing.
He was the greatest Science Fiction writer alive. The world is utterly, utterly diminished by his passing.
Monday, March 17, 2008
On video games and art
On video games and art
There is a very relevant debate occurring in the entertainment industry as to whether video games can be considered art. Whether they have the potential to be art. And if that potential has ever been demonstrated in a game we can actually call art. A lot of you probably don’t care about this, but screw you, I’m the one writing this. If you don’t want to read this, go to cuteoverload.com, it’ll keep you entertained.
Anyway, the reason this is an interesting discussion is that video games are currently bringing in more revenue than Hollywood, but due to rising costs it’s facing a period of creative stagnation.
Games right now are overwhelmingly a craft. And there are some damned fined craftsmen out there. Both in terms of game design and theory (Will Wright, Peter Molyneux), and games as a purely visual medium (the Crysis games, Cloverfield studios). The games these people are making are often things of beauty, and gloriously fun to play. However, they aren’t art. They’re crafts. They are objects of great skill and beauty, but not of art.
And some argue that games can never be art (see Roger Ebert), and remain being a game. The necessity of the manner of interaction (that of using a controller) and the use of win conditions mean that the artistic vision of the creator is always engulfed by the needs of the player.
It is also worth noting that video games are a medium in its infancy. The first true video game was probably Spacewar (1961), and that was surprisingly advanced but very limited in release. In fact, it was on one machine at MIT. That puts video games at approximately 45 years of age since the inception of the technology. If we are to look at film as a medium, 45 years from the first proper moving pictures (approx. 1880s) would put us firmly in the mid 1920s. And while 1927 gave us Metropolis and the Jazz Singer, the latter was only important in terms of technical innovation.
Rather than being incapable of art, video games are simply a medium that hasn’t been used artistically except in one case. Well, that’s what I would have said yesterday. Now it’s two.
The first, and most obvious is Shadow of the Colossus. If you’re a gamer, and you haven’t played this, please do. Please, please do. It is the pinnacle of gaming, both as an art, and a craft. It’s the first game I’ve ever seen deal with moral ambiguity in a way that draws the player in, and makes them question the actions that they’re undertaking. If you haven’t played it, you’re a young man named Wander, who is told that he can bring a girl back to life if he kills 16 giants scattered across an entirely barren landscape. For the majority of the game you are riding between colossi, in an entirely empty but oddly beautiful landscape. The only wildlife an occasional bird or lizard. And then you must find these giants, and viciously slaughter them. As you progress, you start noticing that the colossi are often peaceful and beautiful, and only fight back once you attack them. And you do start questioning if what you’re doing is worth it. As they’re the only inhabitants of this land, and you slowly destroy them your motivation and morality come into question in uncomfortable ways. This, coupled with sweeping graphics and an enrapturing score make the game unarguably art.
And then there’s Passage.
http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/
Go, get it. Download it. Play it. It’s free, and it’ll work on any computer. The games are only five minutes long. I’ll still be here when you come back.
.
.
.
.
There, you’ve played it? Amazing huh? The first time I played it, I didn’t click onto the point till about half way. I was just wandering right, and avoiding blocks, and enjoying the music and retro feel. I got a bit bored, but figured something would happen. Then I noticed my character was losing his hair. And was slowly making his way across the screen. Towards the end, I could see my entire past stretching behind me, and I came to the realisation that death was utterly imminent. And it came.
It’s a memento mori. It’s a reminder of life. And I played it again. If you go south, you can find treasure chests, but you’ll get lost easily, and many of them are empty. If you go north the path is clear. You can even find a wife to travel with you, but you won’t be able to get to as much treasure. One day she will die too.
When you start you can see so much before you. By the end, it is all behind. And at no time can you see more than a little to either side.
This is art.
There is a very relevant debate occurring in the entertainment industry as to whether video games can be considered art. Whether they have the potential to be art. And if that potential has ever been demonstrated in a game we can actually call art. A lot of you probably don’t care about this, but screw you, I’m the one writing this. If you don’t want to read this, go to cuteoverload.com, it’ll keep you entertained.
Anyway, the reason this is an interesting discussion is that video games are currently bringing in more revenue than Hollywood, but due to rising costs it’s facing a period of creative stagnation.
Games right now are overwhelmingly a craft. And there are some damned fined craftsmen out there. Both in terms of game design and theory (Will Wright, Peter Molyneux), and games as a purely visual medium (the Crysis games, Cloverfield studios). The games these people are making are often things of beauty, and gloriously fun to play. However, they aren’t art. They’re crafts. They are objects of great skill and beauty, but not of art.
And some argue that games can never be art (see Roger Ebert), and remain being a game. The necessity of the manner of interaction (that of using a controller) and the use of win conditions mean that the artistic vision of the creator is always engulfed by the needs of the player.
It is also worth noting that video games are a medium in its infancy. The first true video game was probably Spacewar (1961), and that was surprisingly advanced but very limited in release. In fact, it was on one machine at MIT. That puts video games at approximately 45 years of age since the inception of the technology. If we are to look at film as a medium, 45 years from the first proper moving pictures (approx. 1880s) would put us firmly in the mid 1920s. And while 1927 gave us Metropolis and the Jazz Singer, the latter was only important in terms of technical innovation.
Rather than being incapable of art, video games are simply a medium that hasn’t been used artistically except in one case. Well, that’s what I would have said yesterday. Now it’s two.
The first, and most obvious is Shadow of the Colossus. If you’re a gamer, and you haven’t played this, please do. Please, please do. It is the pinnacle of gaming, both as an art, and a craft. It’s the first game I’ve ever seen deal with moral ambiguity in a way that draws the player in, and makes them question the actions that they’re undertaking. If you haven’t played it, you’re a young man named Wander, who is told that he can bring a girl back to life if he kills 16 giants scattered across an entirely barren landscape. For the majority of the game you are riding between colossi, in an entirely empty but oddly beautiful landscape. The only wildlife an occasional bird or lizard. And then you must find these giants, and viciously slaughter them. As you progress, you start noticing that the colossi are often peaceful and beautiful, and only fight back once you attack them. And you do start questioning if what you’re doing is worth it. As they’re the only inhabitants of this land, and you slowly destroy them your motivation and morality come into question in uncomfortable ways. This, coupled with sweeping graphics and an enrapturing score make the game unarguably art.
And then there’s Passage.
http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/
Go, get it. Download it. Play it. It’s free, and it’ll work on any computer. The games are only five minutes long. I’ll still be here when you come back.
.
.
.
.
There, you’ve played it? Amazing huh? The first time I played it, I didn’t click onto the point till about half way. I was just wandering right, and avoiding blocks, and enjoying the music and retro feel. I got a bit bored, but figured something would happen. Then I noticed my character was losing his hair. And was slowly making his way across the screen. Towards the end, I could see my entire past stretching behind me, and I came to the realisation that death was utterly imminent. And it came.
It’s a memento mori. It’s a reminder of life. And I played it again. If you go south, you can find treasure chests, but you’ll get lost easily, and many of them are empty. If you go north the path is clear. You can even find a wife to travel with you, but you won’t be able to get to as much treasure. One day she will die too.
When you start you can see so much before you. By the end, it is all behind. And at no time can you see more than a little to either side.
This is art.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Boston. A very small part of it.
Pictures. Maybe for the last time. I don't know. Maybe I'll put more up every now and then. But then maybe I'll just write things on the blog. We'll see.
A fallout shelter. I can't believe I now live in a country that needs fallout shelters.
Apparently kiwi water is good enough to ship overseas...
This young Jesus in the pimp-crown lives just up the street from me.
Finally, a crazy old abandoned school a couple of miles from where I live
Peace out, because there's no peace in.
TB/AC
Confessions of a bitter temp worker
So, just over a week from my last posting, I have something resembling a life again. I have a place to live, in a nice-ish flat. I have flatmates again. I was contemplating living on my own, but I figured I wouldn't meet anyone, and I would die alone one night, and no one would know until the stench of my body brought in the neighbours. Well, that and it's a lot cheaper to flat with other people.
Though I wish people in America wouldn't call them roommates. They're flatmates. Or even housemates. But in my mind a roommate is someone who shares a room with you. So if you're two to a room, then sure, you're roomies. Otherwise, you're kidding yourself.
And I'm working. I'm temping with a major temp company. However, we've been warned off blogging about the job, as they might read our blogs. So I'll just call it The Company, as that's what all the official documents I signed called it.
I'm onto my third job. Two one day quickies, and now into a three week job. The first two were pretty crap. Firstly I worked at a Doctor's office pulling out and putting away years of patient files all day long. I also got to cold call people and remind them of their appointments! Woohoo!
Second day was being a secretary for a large property management firm. I answered phones mostly, and when people asked me questions I couldn't answer (which was always) I'd just fob them off on the wrong person. I had to help with a lot of douchbagish large company stuff as well. Putting address stickers on hundreds of flyers that would be spammed at local businesses. Helping charge people for having too much rubbish and the bag not fitting in the bin. That sort of stuff.
Finally now, I'm working at a business I'd really like to work for, but at a job which mind meltingly tedious. I'm working for a magazine running out of a major University here, and I'm emailing. That's pretty much it. I change the the titles and a few particulars in each email, send them off, and amend data in a huge spreadsheet. I must have sent in excess of 150 emails today. And that's pretty much all I do. Have you ever felt as though your job could be done by a robot? Well, I know mine could be done by a programme. Seriously, if anyone figured out how to use a mail merge properly, my job could be done in 1/4 the time. I'm sticking with it because the last temp flaked out of the position, and I hope to all hell that I can spin it into something good at a cool company.
But, by God, if I don't get to do something that actually requires my brain before long, it's going to liquify and fall out my ears. It is grossly repetitive work. The same emails sent over and over again. I can see how office work drives people to insanity. And as I'm just a lowly temp, no one wants to talk to me either. Not there long enough to bother knowing? Who knows, it's only day one.
I need more business clothes.
My two shirts and two trousers aren't cutting it.
I suppose part of my coming here was to find if there's a job out there that I love. Or more realistically, finding a job that doesn't make me want to commit grievous bodily harm. And I'm still looking.
Peace in, because there's no peace out.
TB
Though I wish people in America wouldn't call them roommates. They're flatmates. Or even housemates. But in my mind a roommate is someone who shares a room with you. So if you're two to a room, then sure, you're roomies. Otherwise, you're kidding yourself.
And I'm working. I'm temping with a major temp company. However, we've been warned off blogging about the job, as they might read our blogs. So I'll just call it The Company, as that's what all the official documents I signed called it.
I'm onto my third job. Two one day quickies, and now into a three week job. The first two were pretty crap. Firstly I worked at a Doctor's office pulling out and putting away years of patient files all day long. I also got to cold call people and remind them of their appointments! Woohoo!
Second day was being a secretary for a large property management firm. I answered phones mostly, and when people asked me questions I couldn't answer (which was always) I'd just fob them off on the wrong person. I had to help with a lot of douchbagish large company stuff as well. Putting address stickers on hundreds of flyers that would be spammed at local businesses. Helping charge people for having too much rubbish and the bag not fitting in the bin. That sort of stuff.
Finally now, I'm working at a business I'd really like to work for, but at a job which mind meltingly tedious. I'm working for a magazine running out of a major University here, and I'm emailing. That's pretty much it. I change the the titles and a few particulars in each email, send them off, and amend data in a huge spreadsheet. I must have sent in excess of 150 emails today. And that's pretty much all I do. Have you ever felt as though your job could be done by a robot? Well, I know mine could be done by a programme. Seriously, if anyone figured out how to use a mail merge properly, my job could be done in 1/4 the time. I'm sticking with it because the last temp flaked out of the position, and I hope to all hell that I can spin it into something good at a cool company.
But, by God, if I don't get to do something that actually requires my brain before long, it's going to liquify and fall out my ears. It is grossly repetitive work. The same emails sent over and over again. I can see how office work drives people to insanity. And as I'm just a lowly temp, no one wants to talk to me either. Not there long enough to bother knowing? Who knows, it's only day one.
I need more business clothes.
My two shirts and two trousers aren't cutting it.
I suppose part of my coming here was to find if there's a job out there that I love. Or more realistically, finding a job that doesn't make me want to commit grievous bodily harm. And I'm still looking.
Peace in, because there's no peace out.
TB
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