Ideation

“We have now reached a point where we see not the art but the space first…an image comes to mind of a white, ideal space that, more than any single picture, may be the archetypal image of 20th century art.”
-Brian O’Doherty

This piece serves to further my exploration of the autonomous white cube, first considered in Project One. The white cube describes the gallery typical of 20th century art presentation, an “unshadowed, white, clean, artificial” space. This space served as the apex of artistic presentation; in order for art to retain some value, it must be exhibited within the white cube.

White Cube "checklist" (according to O'Doherty):
-the outside world must not come in
-walls are painted white
-the ceiling becomes the source of light
-the art is free

http://www.societyofcontrol.com/whitecube/insidewc.htm

O’Doherty suggests that the space itself frequently takes primacy over the art on display. He also indicates that the pristine and sterile nature of these galleries creates a “limbolike status” in which the artworks are suspended within and untouched by time. The white cube became the only acceptable avenue in which to display art. Is an artwork’s value simply a function of its location? Does the prestige and lasting influence of the artwork depend more on its placement that its inherent content?

The game’s interface is inspired by Grow Tower, a Flash game that challenges the user to create a tower out of five provided elements.

http://www.eyezmaze.com/eyezblog_en/blog/2009/01/grow_tower.html




The goal is to construct a tower tall enough to turn on the sun shaped light bulb at the top of the screen. However, different configurations of the elements yield different results, some positive and some negative. Only one combination achieves the goal.

In a similar scheme, I will present the user with a blank gallery space. He will be given a choice of a select number of artworks with which to outfit his gallery. At this point, the works have not been decided upon, but I would like to include well-known pieces that concisely represent the time period in which they were executed. I plan to use no fewer than 5 and no more than 10. The user will be allowed to configure his gallery by choosing a piece and dropping it onto the wall. Different combinations will yield different results. Some pieces will function well together and earn the user points for good curating tastes. Points will be removed if the gallery isn’t well organized. I plan on capitalizing on some “art jokes” for this piece (by moving a Serra sculpture from its original location, you lose a certain number of art points because he claims you have destroyed the context of the work, etc.). The goal of the game is to create the most prestigious gallery. In order to achieve this, you must accumulate the most art points, a process contingent on the best display.


Initial Interface



Potential Layout

Obviously, the big question here is content. For instance, I have the choice between creating my own gallery space within Maya or modeling an existing gallery. If choose a real space, I need to consider the cultural significance style of that space as well as its relationship to the art world. The concept of the white cube applies to 20th century art. But some interesting metaphor could be created if I worked within a space that falls outside of that classification. What would it mean if I modeled part of the Guggenheim vs. the Met? The Louvre vs. the Pompidou? The British Museum vs. the Tate Modern? If the space comes from a real location, I would want that location to be recognizable. I'm not positive if any one room within these institutions would be recognizable without the context of the entire building. I might consider modeling the White Cube gallery (located in London) for a further sense of irony:



Of even more importance are the works that will be presented and the results that will derive from various combinations. This part will require a good amount of research into art theory; I want to rely on art theory stereotypes or cliches for these associations.

Timeline:
February 17-28: Proposal, Ideation Finalization
March 1-14: Modeling of Gallery Space
March 15-21: Texturing of Gallery Space
March 22-April 4: Creating the Hierachy of Artwork Organizations and Subsequent Point System
April 5-18: Coding and Arrangement of Artwork
April 19-25: Debugging
April 26-30: Preparation for Final Installation