Interactivity is one of the unique features that set
NET.ART apart from most of the traditional forms of art. Early NET.ART
interactivity was humble by today’s standards, as it had to be created using
the relatively simple technologies of a decade ago. It was limited by slower
computers, narrow bandwidth and limited abilities of the browsers of the era.
But interactivity on the net, like all digital technologies, has improved
dramatically in usability and versatility within the last decade. Early video
games faced similar limitations. Early internet connections were way too slow
to do any serious gaming. Early video games like Pong or Pac-Man functioned on
the slow CPU’s and limited video chips of the era, and these games were played
on television screens and in video arcades.
However, times have changed. Video games are at the
cutting edge of interactive media technology. The popularity of video gaming
has created a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry that is both competitive
and very profitable. Some of the largest corporations in the world, such as Sony and Microsoft, are major
players in the video game industry. Video gaming is so popular that it
basically drives many aspects of the computer industry. The billions of dollars
spent each year by gamers are largely responsible many of the technological
advancements in digital arts and hardware design. Video gamers are constantly
demanding faster CPU’s, faster video processors and improved RAM to support the
latest video games, and video game companies are continually working to produce
more complex and technically demanding software that will deliver a more
exciting and lifelike experience to their customers.
If
interactivity, collaboration, and communication are some of the unique
characteristics that define NET.ART, then modern online video games must be
considered as an artistic medium. Thousands of different games can be played
online, some games allow for hundreds of players to interact with each other to
affect the games ever changing plot and eventual outcome. This interactive
technology is combined with the advanced graphics and audio to create engaging
virtual worlds that captivate online gamers. When we take into account the
popularity and wide reaching affect of today’s online games the artistic
success of the games creators seems apparent. According to video game designer Ralph Koster:
Mere entertainment becomes art when the communicative element in the
work is either novel or exceptionally well done. It really is that simple. It
has the power to alter how people perceive the world around them. And it's hard
to imagine a medium more powerful in that regard than video games…The public
already discusses and treats games as an art form, and uses the same standards
of judgment for them as they do for films or novels or any other artistic
medium. They just aren't comfortable with considering them to be art.
Still, some
members of the art community question the artistic value of video games. In
contemplating this argument we must respect the fact that video game creation
requires the ability to conceptualize an artificial environment and bring it to
life. This requires skills in design, animation, programming, image creation
and the imagination to create an entire virtual world. Modern video games
require entire teams of experts from various disciplines to create an experience
that the modern “gamer” will enjoy. Many of the creative skills that art
commonly attributed to artists are found in the workshops of the gaming
industry. We must consider that video games are as much an art form as cinema,
theatre, architecture or any other creative discipline that requires
collaborative effort.
This does not suggest, however, that the average gamer is
a patron of the arts. Some gamers may, in their own right, be artists. Certain
gamers doubtless possess technical skills, creative talents or artistic tastes
that allows them to appreciate the artistic value of video games. However, most
gamers are chiefly interested in the entertainment value of video games, much
the same as most moviegoers who are mainly interested in the entertainment
effectiveness of a movie. Today’s game enthusiast is sophisticated in his
demands for new technologies that enhance their gaming experience, but gamers
generally tend to view video games as a product to be used and enjoyed more
than an art form to be admired and appreciated. It seems that the artistic side
of the video game, like cinema, music and many other artistic mediums, is
rooted more in its creation than in its use.
Is the interactive art of the NET.ART community very
different from realm of video games? The answer to this question is generally a
matter of opinion. There is still a very blurry line as to where art stops and
entertainment begins. Perhaps one of the qualities of NET.ART is to blend the
two. Does the interactive function of some NET.ART enhance the appreciation of
the artwork, or does it distract from it. If interaction is the primary
function of a creation, then it would seem that by engaging this feature the
user is inspecting the work in order to judge it by their own personal tastes,
much in the way one would examine a painting or a sculpture. Here, perhaps, is
one of the subtle differences between interactive art and interactive
entertainment. It seems that part of the difference is in the perception of the
user. If the user is a patron of the arts, and is approaching the object from
an artistic point of view, then they will have an enhanced perception of its
artistic qualities. If the user is primarily interested in being entertained
then the artistic value of a creation will probably be overlooked.
Since the Internet itself is
interactive isn’t all NET.ART, by use of the internet as a vehicle, interactive
by default? In defining the interactivity of the Internet we tend to consider
the acts of clicking a mouse, typing searching and even reading as interactive
events. If this is true then we must consider watching television or reading a
book interactive. These are both very comparable to looking at a computer
screen. Turning the pages in a book, clicking on a hyperlink and changing the
television channel are all very similar actions that produce similar results.
Obviously not all NET.ART is interactive. The Internet is populated with
millions of images that are art in their own right. Music, verbal comedy,
poetry, prose, recitals and other forms artistic audio are available online.
There are thousands of websites that contain artistic video content. None of
these types of art are considered interactive yet all are designed to be
accessed, experienced and appraised on the Internet.
It seems that there are a
variety of relationships between interactivity and art. One function of
interactivity is to enrich the users experience with the art. Another is to
allow the user to alter or contribute to a work of art. Often interactivity
allows the art object to become an object of function in an application or a
more complex project. Sometimes interactivity is the purpose of the art.
In all cases, introducing an interactive element into a work of art should enhance both the art
object itself and any other work to which the art object contributes.
