Video Game
Artists Face Off: Ready? Fight!
In the
First Corner: Robbie Cooper
Robbie Cooper is a photographer and video artist from the United
Kingdom, though he currently resides in New York. The two series posted to his
website deal with the virtual world versus the physical world, as well as
gamer’s (in varying degrees of devotion) connection to video games and media. A
quote from his website accurately describes why he places his artistic focus
and attention where he does:
“Our experience in a hyperreal world…is one in which media and
medium are not simply located in their own spaces, but dispersed around us, in
all forms of experience. My aim with these projects is to assemble videos, text
and images that record our relationship with this world. In this environment,
the ways in which we relate to mediated experience become, for me, an
interesting portrayal of life in our 21st Century culture.”
Two series exploring this “hyperreal world”
are displayed on Cooper’s website. The first is his Alter Ego series, which took three years to complete and required
extensive traveling to locations such as Korea, China, Germany and France. In
the series, Cooper photographs people (either individually or in pairs), who
play virtual world video games such as City of Heroes, Everquest, Lineage, and
Star Wars Galaxies. However, he not only photographs the gamers, but also their
avatars. Creating a diptych image that places the gamer and their corresponding
avatar side by side.
The second element to Cooper’s work in his Alter Ego series is textual. If you
hover the mouse over the image on his website the images darken and text
appears. Over the actual image of the gamer will be general information about
the individual, as well as information about the individual in regards to their
virtual life. This includes (though varies slightly) their name, when they were
born, their occupation, where they live, their “average hours per week
in-game,” their avatar’s name, the date their avatar was created, the virtual
world game they prefer to play, the name of the server they play on, their
avatar’s type, their avatar’s level, and their avatar’s special abilities or
powers. Over the image of the gamer’s avatar, text written by the gamer themselves
appears. It’s written in a 1st person format, and usually involves
the gamer’s thoughts / own personal view of the “hyperreal world” Cooper is
exploring. They discuss why they play virtual world games, how close they
believe reality is to the virtual – or isn’t, as well as how closely they
associate their avatar with their real-life selves.
Some of his subjects believe their avatars are as real as they
are, others state that they are very aware of the line between virtual and
reality, while many fall somewhere in between. Cooper describes the purpose of
his three part pieces (image of gamer, image of avatar, and text) as, “…recording
the appearance of the real person, alongside their avatar, I wanted to compare
each person with the identity that they’d created to interact with others online.
At the same time I assembled texts written by each person.”
The second series displayed on Cooper’s
website is called Immersion, which
deals with “…capturing the interaction of people with the screen” (Cooper). Or
more specifically for this series, capturing the interaction of children with
video games. The series is comprised of videos cut together, as well as high
contrast, candid, still images, of children from both the United States and the
United Kingdom playing video games. As with the Alter Ego series, if the images are hovered over with a mouse, a
small amount of text is also included – stating the name of the child playing
and the game being played. Both the video and the images are taken from a
straight on view, as if the video games are the ones watching the children
play, and besides the children there is nothing else; they are framed by a
black background so nothing is there to distract from their reactions to the
screen. The reason behind the making of this series, as stated on Cooper’s
website, is to record someone’s obvious and uncensored character as they play,
or watch someone play, videogames. On a final note about Cooper’s Immersion series, it has both been
expanded upon, and is ongoing. For example, a 2009 project was scheduled to
take place at Bournemouth University that would record children’s reactions to
war games, war on the news, war in documentaries, and war in movies. The video
included within the series can be viewed at the following URL: http://www.robbiecooper.org.
Out of our readings for this semester, Robbie Cooper’s work, I
believe, most closely ties to Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of
Mechanical Reproduction.” In said piece, Benjamin writes “the camera introduces us
to unconscious optics as does the psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses” (16).
This aptly ties to Cooper’s work as he utilizes a camera (as his work
is more driven by photographs than by the text and video he also uses) to
capture what viewers might miss otherwise. Perhaps not even see. He is freezing a moment –
both staged and un-staged, so that you HAVE to look at that fraction of a
second preserved for you. You’re given all the time you desire to process,
analyze, and decide how you feel about the image, but you have to witness that
specific moment the image has captured.
The representative work I have chosen from Robbie Cooper’s work
is from his Alter Ego series, and is
his piece about an individual named Jason Rowe.
The reason I’ve chosen this piece is due to its more positive
look on virtual world games and the people who play them. It shows a positive
side to this idea of a “hyperreal world,” whereas the next artist we’re going
to take a look at has a message a little more negative.
In the
Second Corner: Matteo Bittanti
Matteo Bittanti is an interventionist media artist / sculpture
artist who utilizes toys, cinema, videogames and the web. Originally from
Italy, he’s now based (mainly) out of San Francisco - a professor in both San
Francisco and Milan on top of his profession as an artist. His aim (as with
most interventionist media artists) is social and political commentary.
Though he
has many series posted to his website, I have chosen to look at a series he did
collaboratively called Game Arthritis.
The series documents eight fictional diseases produced by eight different video
game technologies. Two photos placed side by side in a diptych image represent
the diseases – one zoomed out image depicting the patient with the disease, and
one zoomed in image of the physically visible effects of their ailment. The
diptych image is then accompanied by a textual description (written as if it
were a medical / professional document), and an illustrated medical diagram
(also appearing to be for professional / medical use).
According to Bittanti, “‘Game Arthritis’ presents a ‘What if’
scenario in which techno-pathologies and physical deformities allegedly caused
by an excessive use of digital games are presented as ‘real.’” Partially
based in science, yet very exaggerated, the series blurs the line between
scientific evidence and fiction.
Although another artists photographed the series, and Bittanti
did not draw the medical diagrams, he played a large part in the concept for
the series, and is also responsible for the descriptions of the eight diseases
that accompany the photographs and the medical diagrams. As a final side note,
the series title serves as a pun to “Game Art,” commenting on the ongoing
debate as to whether or not game art is real art.
Out of our readings for the semester, Bittanti’s work most
closely ties to our fourth assigned reading “Tactical Media” by Rita Raley. Bittanti’s work
is the same as the work discussed and analyzed in Raley’s piece in that it is
full of satire, often humorous, and sometimes veiled just expertly enough to
give birth to that “shock factor.” Similar to our Interventionist
Media Project #5, Bittanti’s work is not just about making art, but also about
delivering a message to his viewers.
The representative piece I have chosen from Bittanti’s work is
the image/text/diagram that accompanies the fictional disease “3D Optical
Disorder (3DOD), displayed below:
Comparison
& Contrast
An area where Bittanti and Cooper have common ground is in their
use of diptych images. Although Cooper uses it as a means of comparison and
Bittanti uses it just as an aesthetic preference, it is not an extremely common
method of displaying photographs, so it is interesting that they both used the
method (even if for different reasons). Another similarity between Bittanti and
Cooper is their choice of mediums; both artists use photography and text as a
very large and necessary part of their series. However, in regards to their
series separate from the series containing the chosen representative works,
this is also an area of contrast for the two artists. Where Cooper uses video,
Bittanti does not. And where Bittanti uses sculpture, Cooper does not. The most
obvious similarity between the artists, however, is that both of their series,
as well as their representative works, deal with the genre of “game art.” A
genre that is relatively new, as well as somewhat debated in regards to its
validity in the art realm. An interesting point to be made in regards to all of
this is how Bittanti addresses this stigma on the genre he is utilizing by
turning his series title into a pun. Cooper, by contrast, ignores the stigma
entirely. Suggesting he either is unaware of the stigma (doubtful), or
attempting to increase its validity through his use of the genre to “make good
art” (Whittenberger, Peter).
The biggest contrast between Bittanti and Coopers work is
intent. In making the series Game
Arthritis, Bittanti is working as an interventionist media artist. He is
purpose driven, he has a point to make, he has perspectives he wants his
viewers to see, and he has social / political commentary to make. By contrast,
Cooper’s intent is more exploratory. He is curiosity driven, he is interested in
asking questions, as well as learning and understanding people and their
relationship to this “hyperreal world” he references. This intent likely alters
their audience. Bittanti’s audience would be everyone and anyone he could
reach, with specific emphasis on reaching those who play video games or whose
children play video games. Cooper, on the other hand, might have an audience
more consisting of “willing” viewers. He is not trying to convince his
audience, as Bittanti does, at least not so forcefully. His viewers are more
than likely interested in the same ideas and questions he is. Searching for the
same answers he is.
A final contrast between Bittanti and Cooper is the amount of
collaboration present in their series. In Copper’s Immersion series, the video portion of his series is collaborative.
However, in his Alter Ego series,
Cooper only collaborates with his subjects. Of a much more collaborative nature
is Bittanti Game Arthritis series.
Bittanti is only partially responsible for concept (though he played the
largest role) as well as responsible for the disease descriptions. Photography,
illustrations, and part of the concept were all portions of the series
accomplished by collaboration.
Conclusion
Though their work differs in many ways, mainly in intent, both
Matteo Bittanti and Robbie Cooper’s work deal within the genre of game art. By
doing this, the artists are paving the way to make game art a valid and
accepted genre within the art community. Both artists use the internet as their
main platforms for displaying their artwork, Bittanti attempting to reach as
many viewers as possible (to change minds), and Cooper attempting to reach an
audience curious about the same social questions he’s interested in. As both
artist’s series and representative works are undoubtedly well made, their
contribution to the acceptance of this genre is by no means miniscule.
Works
Cited
- Bittanti, Matteo. Matteo Bittanti. n.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2013
- Bittanti, Matteo and IOCOSE. Game Arthritis. n.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.
- Cooper, Robbie. Robbie Cooper. n.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.
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