The Art of Gaming in Japan: A Project Update

I have been sifting through some articles online and considering my project more heavily. If you take a look at the post just below this one, you may notice I was originally going to look at the dichotomy of the visuals in gaming from the east and west. In most cases, the two are opposed completely, both in their artistic representations, but also their core game design. This is interesting, but fails to deliver any kind of concise conclusion. "Look, they aren't like one another," would be the ultimate summary of the project, and that's not compelling.

For that reason, I'll be focusing exclusively on games from Japanese developers. Often times these games reflect the look of the woodblock prints we looked at, Nara's artwork, and Murakami's superflat aesthetic. Something interesting about this research is that the visual design of these games mirrors things we've studied. More interesting is how the actual core design is reflective of some of the concepts we've talked about, primarily mujo.

This tighter scope of observation will (I hope) bring about a more focused and relevant project. Below are the sources I'll use; mostly to contextualize what I'll be talking about, the majority of the project will be dedicated to comparing the imagistic styles of the games and the sub-cultures and pre-existing Japanese art they resemble. Pardon the lateness! If anyone would be willing to drop any helpful comments I would very much appreciate it.

P.S. The images included are meant only to give examples of the kinds of games I'll be looking at. Since this is art in motion, I'll likely move through many different images and utilize videos for my PowerPoint. Thank you!

Sources:

"Games, The Lively New Art" by Henry Jenkins: HERE
"Art Form for the Digital Age" by Henry Jenkins: HERE
"Some Notes on Aesthetics in Japanese Video Games (pg. 211)" by William Hurber: HERE
"Haunting Backgrounds" by Martin Picard: HERE
"The Cultural Economy of Ludic Superflatness" by Dean Chan: HERE

Art Direction in Video Games: East vs. West

Game journalists are keen to always make the distinction between western and eastern games. This is because, in most cases, the mechanical and visual function of the two categories are opposed. Rarely, if ever, do the two influence each other. Beside the fact that the base gameplay is often different from games produced in the states, the artistic vision of Japan's games are vibrant and distinct, often taking cues from the japanese artwork and manga that came before.

My project will draw comparisons between these two parties of game development, and speculate on how the art direction in eastern gaming came to fruition. Furthermore, the ideologies of designers are often quite different one's in the west, bringing about new visions for their products beyond their look. It will be important that some element of the project focuses on the thoughts of the people who make these games, in addition to their final products.

Possible Sources:

"That Game Company Interview" Here

"Art in Service of Gameplay" Here

"Art Direction in Games is Rubbish" Here

"Interview with Nick Clark" Here

"NYCC Article" Here

Takashi Murakami + Nara Yoshitomo

(Takashi Murakami's "Cosmos")

During the 1980's, Japan's consumer culture started coming to a head. Most citizens were involved in the commercial business, allowing for some to lead a "pure consumer" lifestyle. With this cultural shift, the line between fine art and consumerism was blurred, giving way to a new face of art. Murakami is one of the flagship artists of this new movement, often combining pop-culture and consumer goods with the craftsmanship of any good art work. Many of these images have "kawaii" qualities. The innocent cuteness of these works is indicative of a time when some women could only survive in closed, anti-social environments. Murakami's creativity is fully aware of what it is, designed to expose the narcissistic nature of this new culture.

This new artistic synthesis can be spotted just in the color scheme alone. There's something almost garish about the bright, multicolored flowers (a common image of Murakami). The stylized smiles on the flowers presents this more as patron piece rather than an art piece. This kind of design would seem more suited to a children's toy or cartoon, but the tasteful (and highly deliberate) spacing of the vines helps satisfy the artistic precision. The distribution of vines allows the eyes to roll playfully down its length. "Cosmos" was painted on three joined canvases. It's difficult to discard the comparison to traditional Japanese interior - truly, it looks like a sliding door. This choice, be it deliberate or not, its powerful since it reflects the closed, introverted nature of a consumerist society.

(Nara Yoshitomo's "Home")

Nara's work often expresses a nostalgic yearning for the past. His images of fresh faced girls are conveyed through simplistic color schemes and minimalist design. In terms of his artistic output, he seems obsessed with the appearance of youth. Children are an interesting thing to focus on. They've not fully assumed the role of their body or consciousness, thus existing in a kind of limbo space where they're unbiased and not fully "formed." There's always a struggle between the real and unreal in Nara's work, a full acknowledgement of not one, but two realms of being.

The backgrounds are rarely given much attention. This presents the viewer with a clean viewing frame, sure, but this helps satisfy these concepts even more. Oceans of color, like the one above, express an exposure to the infinite, a search for equilibrium among any number of possibilities or directions. Interesting, then, that the image of this girl depicts her looking for something, in this case, a house. She's largely disassociated with her surroundings - she's not even aware of what direction she's headed in fact. The lack of realistic scale and proportion clarifies one thing: The little girl is only a piece of her surroundings by circumstance and is mostly disconnected. The scheme of color doesn't convey emotions of joy or wonder, either. In fact, there's something quite solemn and lonely about the piece.