Digital
art is continuously developing and is generally qualified as art work that
incorporates technology and computers. It has evolved into a diverse collection
of practices that range from object-oriented works to those art forms that integrate
dynamic and interactive elements with a process-driven virtual form.
The
Internet has afforded many individuals a global platform and exchange of
information. For artists, the advent of the World Wide Web and recent
developments in wireless technologies and mobile devices enhance the means of accessibility
and mass circulation of artwork[1].
In addition, there has been a growing
enterprise and popularity of gaming. Currently, it is considered to be a billion
dollar industry which has been an important factor in the ‘digital revolution’
as it has explored many paradigms that are now common in interactive art.[2]
It has become increasingly more lucrative and exceeds the film industry. Artists
have given games a different value other than entertainment or fun when it
merges and engages with culture. Pippin
Bar is an artist who operates within the realm of the Internet and combines both
text and the tactics of games to express and distribute his messages and work. He
uses the structures of games as a means of creative expression, as instruments
for conceptual thinking and as tools to help examine social issues and the
world around us. There is a wide variety of genres of games which includes
strategic, shooters, god games, and action.
Several
successful video games are extremely violent ‘shooters’ genre. This theme of
violence and destruction is normally antithetical to art. Hence, it seems only likely
that digital artworks would critically investigate their interactive
predecessors and counterparts and explore their paradigms in a different
context[3].
Video games such as, Barr’s War Game (2012)
is an action shooter game that explores the human psyche through a seemingly
endless cycle of fighting and self evaluation.
War Game [4]has
visual similarities to old halcyon handheld LCD games and Barr creates it with features
such as beep sounds, slow refresh rates and intentional glitches. As the game
progresses and as the user is further injured, the more glitches are
experienced. The glitches begin to take the form of civilians, letters and
harmful bombs. As the player is injured there is a mandatory mental health self
evaluation where the player expresses his/her own thoughts in 100 characters or
less on war, fighting and family. The glitches make everything difficult to
read and metaphorically appear that the soldier’s judgments and mental
constructs are slowly deteriorating every time the soldier is forced to fight
or experience more battles. Throughout history, there has been a mental illness
that is caused by war presently referred to as post traumatic stress disorder.
Military combat is one the potential sources of this condition. The recent wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in increased military related suicides.
In the year of 2009, approximately 1500 veterans who were deployed or
experienced these wars have made suicide attempts[5]. This aspect of the game
is a commentary on the mistreatment of military veterans and the effects on
their health.
Additionally,
in War Game, Barr shows a human
condition of fighting where it does not make sense, there are no sides and
there is no identity for the opponent. The game evokes rhetorical questions
such as, does the player even care about who is the opposition and why the
player is fighting this battle. The game is not sensible with enticingly
unconventional and unsolvable game goals that are not articulated. Text becomes
a vital element in the game. The decision of making the psyche evaluation 100
characters in War Game makes a
profound effect on how the game operates. The limitation can suggest oppression
as the player’s answer is cut off immediately at the character limit which can also
be interpreted as a metaphor that the military psychologist is not listening. Barr
is making a statement on the human foibles such as excessive competitiveness and
winning against one another. There is the commentary of war being hopeless and
the question of the aspect of the play function or functionality[6].
Barr’s emphasises on the player’s process. As he is not solely the creator of
the work, Barr’s role is a facilitator for audiences’ interaction and
contribution to the artwork.
Another
game is Let there be Smite! (2011)[7]:
This is a humorous god game that allows the user to play the role of God and to
decide whether to punish or forgive all the sinners in the world. The humour of
the game focuses on religion and god games. It is also a satire on the social
behaviours of humans. It equates being God as a metaphor of an awful and
tedious desk job where the player deals with the sins of the world as they
arise. Sins are defined by the parameters of the Ten Commandments. The player
can either forgive or smite the sinner in an infinite cycle. The visual
simulation is a view of a “surveillance” camera and then popping dialog boxes
that notify the users of the sins committed by the community. As the population
grows, the speed of the sins committed increases and at a certain point it becomes
overwhelming and inevitably a panic button can be activated where in the
virtual reality a great flood occurs and washes away the sinners to start
humanity afresh. However, it is a cycle of a community that is committing a
wide range of sins. During this chaos,
there is the moment when the player would no longer read and respond to the sins
in an inattentive manner. In games, it is common that players would consider
their course of action, however the game intensifies that inattentive state
while proceeding in relation to the ambiguous boundaries of accepted morals and
behaviours that should not be treated in that unmanageable way. Barr’s design
creates the impression that humanity is bound to commit sins, that humans have
weaknesses and foibles and the role of God is to decide how much can be tolerated.
Furthermore,
Barr sees games as a fascinating means to circumvent the unconscious expression
and authorship itself. His strategy of clever manipulations of data, texts,
phrases and visuals contribute to humorous, satirical and wry commentaries on
art and world issues. Barr is concerned
with social issues and employs game-like structures and interactivity as the
opportunity to involve the viewers in heightened ways. Although any experience with art is interactive, it relies on a
relationship between context and production of meaning from the audience. Thus, the interactive experience of
traditional forms resonates as a mental event in the viewer. However, the
interactivity in digital art offers different forms of navigating, assembling,
or contributing to an artwork that goes beyond this purely mental event. The participant’s
involvement is with a work confronted with complex possibilities of remote and
immediate interventions that are unique to the digital medium[8].
Barr provides a lens through which we engage the world not just the arts but
also politics, the military, psychology and history. Barr spurs untraditional
approaches to game design and tries to foster intervention which can address social
issues.
Since
the early 1990s, digital art had made profound developments and it continues to
expand. It engages audiences in a unique process that consists of information,
textual, visual and aural components and does not reveal the artist’s intention
and content at a glance. The expansion of digital technology will continue to
have a great impact on the world. Artists often mirror their time and induce
the creation of even more artworks that reflect and
critically engage life and culture. The artist manipulates content, codes of
conduct, contact conception and ways of interacting.
[2] Paul,
Christiane. Digital art. London; New York: Thames & Hudson, 2008, 18
[4] Pippin Barr. “War
Game”. Accessed October 16, 2012.
http://www.pippinbarr.com/inininoutoutout/?tag=war-game
[5] Huffing Post.
“Veteran Suicide: Are We Losing The Battle?” Accessed October 20, 2012.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/suicide_n_1070491.html
[6] MOMA. “ Contemporary Art Forum: Critical Play – The Game
as an Art Form”. Accessed on October 13, 2012.
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/events/13985
[7] Pippin Barr. “War Game”. Accessed October 16, 2012.
http://www.pippinbarr.com/inininoutoutout/?tag=let-there-be-smite
[8] Wong, Chee-Onn, Keechul Jung, and
Joonsung Yoon. “Interactive Art: The Art That Communicates.” Leonardo
42, no. 2 (January 1, 2009): 180–181.
