Research: Art and Technology

"Computer Animation," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Article #1

One article that I found online regarding art and technology was about computer animation. I think that this is a perfect example of art and technology working together to create an even more amazing masterpiece of work. The article starts off by giving a definition of computer animation and briefly discusses how the role of computer technology has changed regarding the animation of shows. “Computers were first used to control the movements of the artwork and the camera. Now computers create the artwork and simulate the camera”. Later in the article it talks about how computers can be used to assist or even replace every phase of the animation process. It talks about how different painting systems work and how much more effective they can be compared to old animation processes. Another major focus in the article was image rendering. Due to the advanced technology of computers image rendering is super useful for animations. It allows a three dimensional picture to made easily and precisely. In the conclusion of the article, it states that “modern computer animations require still faster and more powerful computers to exploit new techniques and potentially photorealistic effects”.

This was a very interesting article and related perfectly to what this weeks topic is discussing. When I think of art and technology, one of the first things that I think of is computer animation. I think that computer animation exemplifies perfectly how art and technology has melded together to make another type of creative art. In the article it discussed how the animation had always had the involvement of computers; that computers just didn’t produce the art. This reminded me of the article Computer Graphics: Effects of Origins by Beverly Jones, when she stated, “electronic and photonic art forms have been and will continue to be influenced by their origins and practices”(pg 1). The art of computer animation was influenced by it’s origin of computers functioning in animation processes. Another topic in the article that I thought was interesting was the information regarding the painting systems. I think this shows how you can take the traditional technique of “painting” and see how it is when it involves the computer. It is a perfect example of how computer animation is indeed art.

Moses, Alexa and Murray, Elicia (2006). ‘Good game but is it art?’, The Sydney Morning Herald. Retreived February 28^th, 2008, from http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/good-game-but-is-it-art/2006/09/03/1157222003715.html?page=2#

Article #2

In the article Good Game but Is It Art?, the authors discuss the debate of whether games should be considered art. They interview many prominent people in the gaming and entertainment world to see what their opinions are regarding the subject. One person that they interviewed was the film critic Roger Ebert. He doesn’t believe that games can be art. He states, “I am prepared to believe that video games can be elegant, subtle, sophisticated, challenging, and visually wonderful. But I believe the nature of the medium prevents it from moving beyond craftsmanship to the stature of art”. They go on to explain that there are even people from the game industry that don’t even believe that games should be considered art. After showing how some people don’t consider it art, the authors have interviews with those who believe that it is art. One major supporter of games being art is a gaming pioneer from Australia, De Margheriti. He states “the artform of games is simply a different artform. Artforms have different functions. Some architecture may not be considered art… a three bedroom red brick house in the suburbs isn’t art, but the Opera House is considered art. Some computer games are the three-bedroom, but others are the Opera House”. Other people talk about how it is art because hundreds of pages of script for plot and the cinematic moments in the game. By the end the article doesn’t really sum up if games are art or not. They leave up to the reader to make their own conclusions.

This article was really interesting to me for the fact that it actually discussed if games were art or not. I have always been a fence sitter on this idea. Sometimes I do think that they are art and other times I think that they aren’t. I really liked what De Margheriti said about how some games are like the three bedroom houses while others are like the Opera House. This I think sums up how games and art will be considered. In the article Trigger Happy, that were suppose to read the author states “Gamers of a certain age often argue that the oldies were the best, in much the same way as the pop records of one’s own youth seem so much better than the rubbish the kids listen to today…” (Poole, 7). I think that this relates to the Good Game but Is It Art?, by the fact that with games being considered art it all comes down to individual perception. What game is better, which looks nicer, which is the more entertaining? These are all questions that people ask themselves and they all have different answers and they all lead people to different opinions on if games are art or if they should be considered.