Together, the contributions position videogame art as an interdisciplinary mix of digital technologies and the traditional art forms. Of particular interest in this volume are machinima, game console artwork, politically oriented videogame art, and the production of digital art. This new and revised edition features an extended critical introduction from the editors and updated interviews with the foremost artists in the field. Rounding out the book is a critique of the commercial videogame industry comprising essays on the current quality and originality of videogames.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Grethe Mitchell and Andy Clarke
Section I: Overviews
From Appropriation to Approximation
Axel Stockburger
Meltdown
Rebecca Cannon
Videogames as Literary Devices
Jim Andrews
High-Performance Play: The Making of Machinima
Henry Lowood
“Cracking the Maze”: Curator’s Note
Anne-Marie Schleiner
Section II: Artists on Art
Two Interviews with Brody Condon
Andy Clark
In Conversation Fall 2003 and Spring 2012: Interviews with Joesph Delappe
Jon Winet
Figures in a Landscape: In Conversation with Gibson/Martelli (igloo)
Grethe Mitchell
The Idea of Doing Nothing: An Interview with Tobias Bernstrup
Francis Hunger
Staying in to Play: The Works of John Paul Bichard
John Paul Bichard
An Interview with Eddo Stern
Andy Clarke and Grethe Mitchell
The Isometric Museum: The Sim Gallery Online Project (an interview with Curators Katherine Isbister and Rainey Straus)
Jane Pinckard
The Evolution of a GBA Artist (2004)
Paul Catanese
From Fictional Videogame Stills to Time Travelling with Rosalind Brodsky, 1991-2005
Suzanne Treister
Virtual Retrofit (or What Makes Computer Gaming So Damn Racy?)
M.A. Greenstein
Perspective Engines: An Interview with JODI
Francis Hunger
How Independent Game Development looked in 2002 (an interview with Julian Oliver and Kipper)
Melanie Swalwell
Medieval Unreality: Initiating an Artistic Discourse on Albania’s Blood Feud by Editing a First-Person Shooter Game
Nina Czegledy and Maia Engeli
Section III: Games and Other Art Forms
Should Videogames be Viewed as Art?
Brett Martin
Some Notes on Aesthetics in Japanese Videogames
William Huber
The Computer as a Dollhouse (excerpts)
Tobey Crockett
Networking Power: Videogame Structure from Concept Art
Laurie Taylor
Fan Art as a Function of Agency in Oddworld Fan Culture
Gareth Schott and Andrew Burn
Will Computer Games Ever Be a Legitimate Art Form?
Ernest W. Adams
Notes on Contributors and Artists