Abstract:

The intention of this study is to introduce research results into contemporary digital art gaming. This article outlines the concept and design of the new game, Art Space, which has been created on the basis of game theory, and an audio-visual analysis of the art games produced between 1999 and 2020 incorporating an explanation of their cultural context. Art Space will be a new type of serious art game focused on the aesthetics and historical heritage of contemporary games. The game invites the player into a virtual art academy with several rooms where he/she can create individual artefacts. Art Space intends to clarify the stylistics of contemporary art games, to show the reasons why the effects in those games look and sound the way they do: sometimes glitchy, noisy, even ugly and weird. The game presents the historical antecedents in audio-visual arts and allows examination of the creativity of its players. It hopes to open a new page in edugames devoted to research into contemporary art. The author also intends to fuse the genres of art gaming and serious gaming by transforming edugames into artworks, and evoking the metaphysical reverberation common to artworks. Among the existing games, there are only a few that demonstrate artistic originality and aesthetic subtleness. “Memory of a Broken Dimension” and some others demonstrate a wonderful aesthetical experience as well as a high level of artistic inspiration and existential contemplation. Adding elements of aesthetic inspiration from arts into the process of development of serious games would help to enrich the design of serious games. These could become highly engaging, allow the user to reach another level of interest, and transform playing into a profound artistic experience.

Aknowledgement:
This research has been supported by a grant from the European Regional Development Fund project “Leveraging ICT product innovations by enhancing codes of modern art” No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/1/16/106 within the Activity 1.1.1.2 Post-doctoral Research Aid.

Keywords:

Art game, contemporary aesthetics, gaming methodology, serious gaming.