The Effect of Visual Symbolism in Art and Video Games Khadeja Ali Merenkov

Video Games as Art For this presentation, the discussion of “is it art?!” is absolutely moot The fact that we can use art critique to analyse games means that video games ARE art. That’s...it, really

What makes art art? More importantly, what makes art analysis so special? – Focus on: The physical The contextual The content All of these are symbols for us to pick at Video games contain all of these

The Physical Light/dark Composition Colour Line Size Shape Materials Medium/application Perspective Placement Tactility Brightness Way too many other things

The New Reich Chancellery, Berlin Albert Speer (1938)

Kairo Richard Perrin (2012)

La Deposizione del Christo (the Entombment of Christ) Caravaggio ( )

The Last of Us Naughty Dog (2013)

But, Khadeja, not all art has a physical form!

Conceptual art DUST & WATER PUT SOMEWHERE / BETWEEN THE SKY AND THE EARTH # 662 Lawrence Weiner (1990)

One and Three Chairs Joseph Kosuth (1965)

The contextual Who made this? – Ethnicity, race, gender, all that fun stuff Where was this made? – Historical context, societal context, location Who was the audience? – Patron? Museum? Public? Commercial?

Detail from Judith Slaying Holofernes Artemisia Gentileschi ( )

Detail from Judith Beheading Holofernes Caravaggio ( )

I Get This Call Everyday David S Gallant

Content What did the artist choose to represent? The ‘story’ the artwork is representing What objects/themes/moods did the artist find most important to show? Requires a specific knowledge base

Fleshy Weapons Shahzia Sikander (1997)

Crowns (Peso Neto) Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982)

Let me do a little video game analysis; it’ll be quick

The God of War sex minigame Random button presses accompanied by moaning noises = sex with slave girls you save here and there What does this say about what sex means to the developers? What does this say about gender roles?

Things to remember Who you are is important in any critique you do of your own or of other games What you include visually is as important as what you choose not to include Everything is connected, whether you like it or not – so be mindful

MOST IMPORTANTLY Every single thing that you put into your game; every asset, AI behaviour, character, background, etc….is a symbol that represents YOU

References/Links gameplay-interface/ gameplay-interface/ online/artists/bios/ online/artists/bios/ bell hooks, Outlaw Culture: Resisting RepresentationsOutlaw Culture: Resisting Representations