PROJECT HATCHIMAN
ARTIST STATEMENT
In this age of political anguish, we have less and less of a break from the noise it produces. Especially in the 21st century in which we are always connected, we can always be connected or exposed to this noise. Politics are important, and in no way, should one be ignorant to them, but there is a need for meditation and solitude from not only this noise, but noise in general. When there is noise and controversy there will be a thousand artists to make comment on it, and 99% of that art will be more noise to add to this pollical soundscape.
The idea of Project Hachiman came into fruition under the idea of a narrative, but due to circumstances, continues in a realm of just a playable game and lives as an experience. Like other pieces of art, it creates a spatiotemporal real, and has an aesthetic, but carries little idea other than the core of what the videogame represents. It carries all standard features that you would expect within a videogame, but without this dialog, or without the ability to carry or convey an Idea, it does not transcend into the realm of art. It remains just a game.
I have put everything I have the will to into this game, not everything I can or everything I want to but what I have the will too. I have played with the nuances of this medium and realized a few things. I have realized what videogames are good at and what they lack to hold their own within the art world.
But for some reason when playing Hachiman, even though stripped of all essence of a story, still feels enjoyable and meditative. There is something about being lost in a place and time that doesn’t exactly exist that feels meditative.
Perhaps, Project Hachiman can stand to be a piece who’s only purpose is to give you five minutes of meditation, to give you five minutes away from that noise. You know longer must download and analyze, you have solitude to think, or maybe you can just enjoy that there is an element of adventure in the game and be pulled back through nostalgia to earlier times, of maybe Zelda or perhaps running through the forest as a kid.
DOWNLOAD HERE
Controler
- Left Analog stick to Move
- A to Dash
- B to Attack
- Start to Pause
Keyboard
- Arrows to Move
- C to dash
- X to Attack
- ESC to pause
If you would like, you can also read this excerpt from another essay I wrote, perhaps making my train of thought more clear.
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In conclusion, it is clear that from these articles videogames can be an art form, however they will struggle an inevitable uphill battle much like both film and photography did in being acknowledged as an art form. Much like art, videogames can create spatiotemporal zones, have an aesthetic, and convey ideas. Learning from history, unlike Rejlander trying to emulate already established artistic mediums with his photography, videogames must do multiple things. Firstly, they must separate themselves and define themselves as something different from cinema or film, as traditionally videogames use much of the same narrative techniques as the aforementioned mediums and define themselves as something that is truly stand alone. They must also defy how videogames are traditionally viewed, moving from something whose sole purpose is entertainment to something more, as well as ignoring getting over the commercial aspect and medium that videogames are now. Since videogames are interactive, they must use this to their advantage. They must use this interactivity to make the user think and question different thing, even themselves. They must convey messages, ideally both linguistically and non-linguistically to take full use of the medium. It must have content, they should be more than just an act. Like all art, they must have content that the viewer can take away. They must have aesthetic, whether this be appeal, meaning, richness, depth, significance etc. There are also some aesthetic qualities that apply to games, and not conventional art forms such as replayability. They must contain ideas, the capacity to make statements. They must not rely of formula, and reject saleability during conception, circling back to the issue of videogames being a highly commercialized medium. As mentioned before, “[Art is] not about what the customer wants to buy. It’s about what you want to say (Adams)”. Being a medium pushed by a commercial industry, it has lost touch with other mediums and focuses on the aspect of ‘fun’. The aspect of ‘fun’ is something that does make this medium unique, however the commercial industry focuses too much on fun, Adams states that “Most games are the video equivalent of a theme park, a place designed to maximize fun. But adults don’t spend a lot of time in theme parks. They get entertainment in other ways.” Fun is overrated, and videogames must overcome this affixation by focusing, enabling and empowering other emotions in order to become art.
But the medium will not become art just on its own, both Adams, Martin, and Clarke state that the public must keep an open mind to the concept of videogames transcending into something more, and point the finger at developers to influence this, hold themselves more accountable for crafting art, as art also requires an artist. They must let the public know that they are artists and that the videogames they make are also forms of art. Developers must also experiment with this medium again Martin says that the full potential of the medium must be used to push innovation and independence of other mediums. They must challenge their viewers much in a similar way to how other art addresses their viewers with a challenge, a challenge to experience new ideas, or a challenge to see things in a new way.
Videogames have the potential to be art, but there is much to be done and many new ways of thinking about the medium or seeing it to be invented. It will be a slow battle, but maybe one day the switch between videogames being a solely commercial medium and an art form will be indistinguishable and they will be able to be both things at once, much in the way we view films and photography today.
