I am a professional artist, first and
foremost, and have chosen to make my original contribution in the discipline of
Computer Science, specifically in the field of Game Studies, because I see a
real need to inform both the practice and theory of Game Studies with an
artistic aesthetic and an understanding of the impact of gaming on the psychological
and emotional states of players or participants.
For me, creative practice is a non-verbal
experience. It involves a different kind
of thinking. I believe that, by engaging in play, access to emotional and cognitive
experience is enabled. I still
appreciate and engage with traditional mediums and methods of producing
imagery, for example, printmaking and painting; however, I am more concerned
with virtual space. I argue that virtual
space, as a medium, is both powerful and engaging; a ‘meaningful space’. Virtual space, the place that exists on the
other side of the display screen, is not real.
It is a symbolic construction; virtual space is defined and experienced
through interfaces and only exists in the mind of the person, or persons, who engage
with that constructed space.
I am
interested in the possibility that imagery, aesthetics and methods to interact
with self and self-identity, can be created in this virtual reality, contained
within these electronic screen representations, or even beyond them. Computer games interest me as a medium for exploring the
possibilities of this virtual space. Inspired
by the possibilities of this interactive media, within my art practice, I
attempt to interpret reality, by appropriating game metaphors, design
principles and core technologies for alternative kinds of art‑related content
that create abstract situations within these spaces, to enable engagement with
the viewer. Sometimes, when playing a game, I would like
to have the facility to be able to relax, at some point, in game play; take time
to have a look around, enjoy the scenery, and engage with the space created by
the game designers, while appreciating the artwork and design of the
environment.
Querying why
we have to complete tasks in every game, I perceived that there was, unquestionably,
room for alternative game interaction that generated cognitive possibilities, to
provide alternative and beneficial outcomes for players. This gave
rise to the notion of creating a game environment, where time to ‘look’ and
interact with abstraction and unreal virtual worlds, enables the creation of personal
self-narrative, as the objective. This
objective would, I argue, allow time and space for players to blend with their
own internal dialogue and create a relaxed mental blending with self and
self-identity. Introducing this type of
game genre into our lives means that games can enable self‑identity to become
blurred.
Investigating how these worlds are navigated
and constructed is an augury, not only for the artist, but for the field of
game studies. How a connection is made
with a viewer and how self and self-identity are negotiated, to access and
blend with the ‘strange space’ that allows connections to be made, is a central
concern of my practice. Art pieces, previously
exhibited in galleries, enabled the formulation of dialogue between the piece
and the viewer, creating a connection. Viewers
are facilitated to engage with their self and self‑identity that generate a
unique blend. The hybrid nature of my art
practice creates work, utilising both traditional and non-traditional media and
has involved the creation of conceptually based objects and installations. Within my art practice, I create virtual worlds,
with their own reality, rules and behaviours.
For me, as an artist, these worlds can provide glimpses, insights and
moments impossible in any other medium and these methods are also important for
future game-research. The original artwork
I created, ‘Star World’, became an amalgam, in the sense that it fulfilled three
functions, primarily as an art-piece, and secondly, as an empirical test-bed,
and, thirdly, virtual space, became the medium I use to explore my
art-practice.
I am resolute in my desire to explore the theory
that truly contemplative artwork can be created within the medium of virtual
space. The physicality of our modern
world is being blurred, as virtual space extends the boundaries of our being. As technology becomes transparent and our
world extends, the need for more than just technology will emerge. Creating a seductive, virtual game-space allows
viewers access to alternative emotions, spaces and places, both physical and
virtual, to stop, be relaxed and meditate with the self; this is a visionary
future indeed.