The Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era exhibition at the Whitney Museum features a series of work from the 1960’s through 1970’s; the artists that range from Andy Warhol to Lucas Samaras. Work from this era are characterized as being a direct reaction to popular culture and instead of art being an activity only to be performed by (and for) the elite, art was created by people from all walks of life. Two pieces of work, both by Abdul Mati Klarwein, demonstrated not only the new wave of art that focused on every aspect of popular culture, but his work also touches on the rise of consumerism and how it affected old conventions of society.

The first piece, The Aleph Sanctuary, was originally a 3×3 meter, metallic cube which contained over sixty paintings1; each piece arranged to resemble the more famous Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. The deliberate religious architecture behind Klarwein’s sanctuary seems to belittle the Christian institution by rendering the monumental church in a minimalistic manner. The small size of the Aleph Sanctuary can serve as representation of the church’s quickly shrinking influence. The younger generation was no longer restricted to finding happiness through God and the church, but through any means necessary. The pursuits of happiness of this generation ranged from the explosion of consumerism to the use of drugs and excess alcohol.

The original Aleph Sanctuary features a series of paintings that lined its walls1, each depicting scenes that characterized pop culture in the 1960’s and 70’s; however, the most ‘Pop’ artwork inside the sanctuary was the “Grain of Sand” (also by Klarwein). This painting depicts sexual themes, consumerism, racial equality, civil unrest, and the psychedelic nature of the decade. Naked women are littered throughout the entire painting; however unlike the roof of the Sistine Chapel, women of both races are depicted. Women and men of color replace the white religious figures and the Caucasian female on the upper-left quadrant of the painting is shown with red skin and green eyes; immediately this colorization seems to give of the connotation of evil. This is a complete upheaval of society’s current attitude towards different races.

The entire painting is a surreal landscape where fashion and luxury are intertwined; these two elements relating to the heavy consumerism and the rush to be at the top of the market, both as consumer and producer. The painting seems to say that everyone who is a consumer is entitled to these luxuries. The vibrant colors of the painting overall represented the ‘life’ and energy of the decade. The youth was blooming, taking action in everything they could get their hands on. This wasn’t limited to drugs, but it also included activism against the government and environmental issues. These two pieces of art by Mati Klarwein, are the best examples of Pop artwork during the 1960’s, each demonstrating the mainstream culture during the period and the events that shaped the artwork.

This game is a relatively older one, as far as I can tell it came out back in April. Created by Daneil Benmergui with music by Hernan Rozenwasser, Today I Die is another art game. Again, not a bad thing, as the feelings the game tries to evoke in the player is part of the enjoyment.

Today I Die defies normal video game genres and conventions. If I had to liken it to something I;d call it a descendant of point and click adventure games. Your mouse pointer is your only means of interaction. You are given no instructions beyond “Click Here to Start.” The only words are the shot three line poem that takes up part of the screen. It’s a puzzle game that embraces its simplicity, in both mechanics and art design.

Design wise it runs with the idea of giving you no instructions and instead allows you to explore and with a few simple aesthetic choices is able to guide you to what you are suppose to do. It’s not long and can be finished in under five minutes, but that would be missing the point. It’s a game not so much about beating it as experiencing it.

After playing it, you can follow the link to where you can download it for free or donate some money. You need Flash and can play it in your broswer here: http://www.ludomancy.com/games/today.php

Small Worlds is an indie entrant into the Causal Gameplay design 6th challenge, going on right now. The competition’s deadline was October 18th and it has been up since then. The compition’s  parameters are as follows:

Design a game that incorporates our theme (see below). It doesn’t have to be complex nor large in scope. Since you will have just 6 weeks to complete your design, simple ideas are probably the best way to go. You may use any browser-based technology platformyou are comfortable with (Flash, Unity, Shockwave, Javascript, etc.). If we can embed your finished game file on our competition page, you may use that platform to design and develop your game.

For the 6th Casual Gameplay Design Competition, we are asking for entries designed to incorporate this theme: EXPLORE. You are free to interpret that any way you choose; however, the extent to which your game embodies the theme is left up to the competition judges to decide. Use your imagination and be creative. We will select the best entries submitted to represent the competition just like we have done before. Impress us with your game design and production skills.

With that in mind David Shute created a game that emphasises the theme perfectly and with an increabaly atmophereic resonance. Small Worlds is a platformer that utilizes very old school pixel art design that creates a canvus almost as much as it creates a level. The game did have some issues with the jump button that that the creator did apologize for, saying:

“I’m really sorry the jumping control is so screwy – In an ill-fated attempt to streamline the movement code, I changed the order in which key presses are processed, which had an unintended side effect: ‘Jump’ gets ignored if you’re moving sideways off a ledge or walking down a slope.

I’d really love to be able to upload the fixed version right now, but a deadline’s a deadline – and for better or worse, this is the version I submitted.

As soon as the competition’s over I’ll send Jay the improved version though – It’ll give me a chance to fix some other (minor, cosmetic) problems that slipped through the net too.”

He and all the other contestants were allowed to upload updated versions. Another note, Small Worlds proudly wears the Art Game label, whether or not it was intentional. I don’t wish to spoil anything, but it is an expirience well worth having. The game is work safe. Try and play it in an eviornment where you wont be bothered. The music, by Kevin MacLeod is that good.

I am amazed that Small Worlds took only 6 weeks to make, not because it is brimming with compexity in its code or visual, but rather its concept. The design is subtle and intricate that it is able to draw you in with a few colored blocks and slowly reveal itself . It is so basic and succedes at being art better than most AAA PC and console titles published today. Don’t take that as a negative, art is not the direct opposite of fun or engaging; the two words have nothing to do with each other. The best works are those that are engaging and consumable as well as deep and meaningful. This is one of those games.

David Shute’s Small Worlds

Rather than repost all the thoughts here I’d rather just link you.

http://wordsonplay.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/the-big-triangle/

In the wake of The Beatles: Rock Band coming out a few weeks ago, No Fun Games Studio created a very different sort of rhythm game. Norwegian Wood, named after the early Beatles song of the same name, it is less a game about following the music of a game, but avoiding it.

It is a simple game, with only one song, which due to licencing regulations you have to supply the mp3 for yourself. You don’t need the music and can play it in silence, but it is a bit dull to do so. There are four instruments in the corner of the screen that when that instrument is played it launches a spray of notes for each time a string is plucked. You play as the disembodied head of the late John Lennon controlled with the arrow keys as you try to avoid all the flying notes. You rack up points for not getting hit and after some time you gain multipliers. Should you be hit you lose the multipliers and 100 points per hit. There is an online scoreboard and frankly I don’t know how some of these people got such scores.

It’s simple, it’s fun and each try wont take any longer than the song that inspired it. Quick warning, it is incredibly addictive. My top 30 score has since been erased from the leaderboards. Give it a go.

You can download the game and check the high scores here: http://norwegianwood.gangles.ca/

Wet dreams now has a new meaning as two photographers and fiveartists set their sights on exploring the liquid landscape that covers the majority of the planet we live on.

For humans water has a timeless fascination. Covering 2/3 the surface of our planet, water nourishes, cools, cleans, entertains, and inspires us. And no wonder, as is commonly known, 96% of our bodies is comprised of water, we are literally made of the stuff. In our embryonic state we develop while floating in a sort of inland sea, sporting the gills that suggest our own distant evolution from the enveloping oceans. As a subject for artists, water is an endlessly fluid metaphor presenting an ever-changing surface of reflection, complex color, and translucent mystery. Its’ varied nature can be seen as a mirror to our own mercurial moods. Rain can be soothing or pelting, a stream can murmur gently or roar with destructive force. Water is the only element that we know well in all its’ different states frozen, liquid, and gas, but it is the liquid state flowing, turbulent, or still that most attracts us. In Slippery When Wet, 5 painters and 2 photographers explore this liquid realm bringing the stillness of art and a variety of sensibilities to bear on the the restless motion of this most common yet still elusive element.

The exhibition is being shown at Metaphor Contemporary Art. There’s two months left for this exhibition so make sure to get there if you’re in the New York area, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Timeline: 2009-09-18 To 2009-11-22 Opening Reception on 2009-09-18 from 18:00 to 21:00

Artists: Suzan Batu, Susan Homer, Joanne Mattera, Nancy Manter, Andrew Mockler, Don Muchow, Peter Schroth

Website http://www.metaphorcontemporaryart.com/Ex_SlipWet.html

Price: Free Venue Hours: 12:00 To 6:00 Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Holidays

Directions: Between Hoyt and Bond St. Subway: A/C/G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn, F/G to Bergen Street 382 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217

Phone: 718-254-9126

They aren’t as in depth as say Valve’s Source Engine or the ability to create levels like Little Big Planet, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves offers a set of Machinima tools in a “Cinema Mode.” You can take recorded video footage from matches and change camera angles or alter things and upload the edited recording. But probably most impressive is a green screen mode that allows you to take the characters from the game and put them into any setting the game can offer and move them around as you will. It even allow you to use the blue-tooth headset to record dialogue that the game with lip-sync the character’s lips too.

I’m not sure how indepth the movie creation aspect of the game will be or if it will allow you to drop in you’re own features, but as a basic concept it is an interesting new look into the possibilities of user generated content.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves comes out October 13th for PS3 at $59.99.

What makes it so different from the old one, now termed as PS3 fat? First off is the new price point. Originally the Playstation 3 came out at a dual price point of $499 and $599 depending on what specs you wanted. Now the slim is at retail for $299. Various retailers are getting rid of their old stock at the same price.

It is in the hardware. The first thing you are going to notice is that its a hell of a lot smaller. The PS3 fat is an inch wider and the slim is about 1/3 shorter and almost 4 pounds lighter. From being one of the heaviest consoles ever and second only to the original X-box in size to a much more manageable size that takes up roughly the same space as a wide-screen laptop.

Much of the other specs stick to the line as the more recent iterations of the Playstation 3. It stick with the 2 USB ports, integrated Wi-Fi and an absence of a Flash card slot, that was removed after the original production models were pulled off the line.  The boxed console comes with the composite cable and a Dualshock 3 controller. All the same.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Sony decided to include a replaceable if wished 120 Gig hard drive. Plenty of space for whatever your need may be. The big disappointment is the lack of PS2 backwards compatibility. It can play Ps1 games fine, but your PS2 library is a no go. This is another feature removed from the original line of consoles.

Now to the title of this post. How exactly is it a Green console. The console is built now not to overheat. Shrinking processors and a bigger fan prevent this. The big upshot of it is that the console is said to use 34% power. That’s all well and good, but is direct from the Sony press release. C-net decided to try this and see if it’s on the up and up. What they found is the console uses up to 70% less power to run than it’s bigger brother when playing games and up to 50% when playing Blue-ray discs.

If you’ve been on the fence of whether or not to get a Playstation 3, the Slim is big new argument to go out and get one.

Disney to buy Marvel for $4 billion – An interesting bit of comic book news for concept artists that have been finding it easy to get their work into Marvel’s industry. This deal might just make getting your work out into the comic book industry a bit harder.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it has agreed to purchase comic book and action hero company Marvel Entertainment for about $4 billion. The deal pairs a comic book publisher that just recently began to produce its own movies with one of the largest international media companies in the world. “This is perfect from a strategic perspective,” Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger told CNNMoney.com. “This treasure trove of over 5,000 characters offers Disney the ability to do what we do best.” On a conference call with investors, Iger said the deal will allow Disney to sell Marvel’s vast array of characters and properties across different media platforms and in many more markets. For instance, Iger said that Disney’s Pixar animation unit was excited about the opportunities that a Marvel acquisition could yield.

These three are done by Kurt Wenner:

This Next Set is By Tracy Lee Stum:

Coming up are several drawings done by Julian Beever:

If you liked these be sure to spend the time looking up others, it really is worth it in my opinion.