Internet Art is Deviant

The other day I uploaded a new picture to my deviantart account which is in of it's self is a rare enough occurrence and has a long enough of a rambling nonsensical description that it might be worth a blog post of it's own (you might be interested in the picture or description if your interested in my silly romhack). In fact I am not sure how many people even know or remember I have a deviantart account. It's certainly not something I pay a lot of attention too. In fact, I mostly only got it to be able to view mature images and decided to upload a few of the old things I had laying around there.

Part of the reason for my lack of attention is because I have long ago given up on ever being an artist, since the only art I seem to be capable of making is either simple pixel art or stuff about on par with the pictographs I use on this blog (minus the ones that are blatantly traced). Most of the work I have in my deviantart account is either collage work or pixel art (and the new picture I put up counts as both), and none of it is very engaging I think. But another big part is because I am very apathetic about sites like deviantart in general and the type of art usually hosted on them.

Now I make no secret of the fact that I like porn, mainly hentai, cartoon, and furry smut, all of which is drawn art rather then actual live action porn. But Outside of x-rated art though I find I very rarely take a interest in much art online. But there is another side to it too. I quite like art used in comics, videos, games, and such, x-rated or not (but it's still better as smut, of course). Really it's only static images that usually fail to hold my interests without smut.

I think the thing is, when a artist draws fanart, or even original art, of random characters who sit there and look pretty, it seems to lack any real context or point. It just becomes a image. It doesn't move me, it doesn't inspire me, it's just there. There are exceptions to this of course, especially for interesting landscapes or interesting character design, but mostly it seems to run a little flat. Smut of course gives me a reason to care for more then the image it's self, but it has to be real hardcore stuff. Simply having a pretty girl doesn't do much for me, and sexy pinup poses rarely work either. Sometimes nudity isn't even enough. I guess I have just been exposed to so much really smutty stuff that it takes more to really wind me up.

Having a story or a game to go along with the art does the same for the mind as smut does for the body. It gives me a reason to really care more then just pretty pictures. And it works in reverse too, in that the art that goes along with the story or game gives the story or game more style and helps craft the world with the art. In fact, music acts much the same way in this regard. I am not quite as interested in music when it's just music, but when the music is put in to enhance a story or a game, it becomes a lot more powerful (but music and sex results in too much bad techno). But I suppose a lot of the time, at least with art, there is usually a story there I don't know about. A lot of original characters made by online artists seem to have roots in roleplaying chats or in progress works of fiction (in fact so does Jiggles, on both counts), and a lot of fan works seem to focus on exploring different aspects or ideas not seen in the original work (homestuck fan works tend to do a great job at that sometimes).

But as I said, I am not an artist, I do not know the mediums and techniques, and I tend not to pay that much attention to style or ability aside from a vague sense of aesthetics and some basic skill. I probably just don't appreciate all of the details that people tend to obsess over in art. I like well done art better then sloppy and badly proportioned art, but I can't say that's something I look for so much as something I notice when done wrong.

Entertainment Tomorrow

I am sure anyone who bothers to read this blog has noticed I fixate mostly on games, and occasionally other forms of entertainment. A lot of my political views and such are also related to things like copyright and consumerism. So I want to take this time to sit down and share some of my views on the subject:

Why entertainment is important:

Entertainment in some form or another has been a important part of human civilization for almost as log as it existed. People may not thing the entertainment industry is a big deal, but if you think about how much time and money is spent by people on entertainment, and how passionately people follow this stuff, you may change your mind. Who tend to be the famous celebrities that most people recognize? Actors, musicians, sports athletes, writers, etc. All entertainers in some form. Sure powerful leaders may have the same fame, and a handful of inventors and scientists, but there are still tons of people who don't do much but entertain.

Along with that, I feel it's very possible that as science and progress grew and religion seemed more and more silly by a lot of people, fiction started to replace myth, and fandom started to replace old religious practices. Where before myths of spirits and gods motivated people to do strange rituals in the woods by the full moon, now fans start elaborate little cults to worship their favorite show, with rituals such as conventions and dressing yup as there favorite character. I am sure a whole essay can and has been written on that subject, and I probably mentioned it before, so I will say no more, except that entertainment is no longer entertainment to most people.

The difference between entertainment and art:

Entertainment by it's self doesn't have a much grander goal then giving a person a way of occupying time without doing actual work. And in fact the reason entertainment even exists is because when building early civilization mankind suddenly started to need to work less and less, and had more free time for which to do things. Entertainment is often treated as an alternative to work, but that's not it's function.

I have said before that "art is about invoking an experience or idea though different mediums. It is an act of reflection of experience or ideas". Perhaps it would be better to narrow that definition a bit, at least in this case. Art also probably was mostly invented to fill a gap, and that gap was meaning. At the same time entertainment started to emerge, art did to. This time the question was not so much "what should I do with my time" as it was "what does what I do what my time mean". By coming up with ideas of beauty and other things, and trying to express those ideas some way, art attempts to come up with a meaning that people can connect to, a drive to do things. I could go on and speculate that science, religion, philosophy, and other things are all also related to this revolution of free time, but thats besides the point.

The point is, entertainment and art are not the same thing yes, but they are deeply connected in a very fundamental way and come from the same root source, that human civilization has long since stopped being driven simply by survival. Thats simply not enough for us anymore.

Why entertainment might not be enough either:

Entertainment is a necessary thing to have of course. Even pets to be taken care of need more then just food, water, and a place to poo. Playing is an important part of a pets life. However few I think would dispute that humans can't be satisfied with such a simple life. Humans need meaning. Humans need art. Or do they? How much on TV and in films can you truly say give you a concept of meaning? Probably more then you might think, but there is a lot of "mindless entertainment" out there that is little more then the equivalent of jigging keys at a baby. Not that that is bad really, it just serves a different function.

Werther or not humans need art or entertainment, probably just depends on the person. If a person has no personal need for meaning, ether because they already came up with a meaning for what they do, or if they simply aren't introspective enough to care, art becomes mostly pointless. We could go into a whole discussion on if people should strive to find meaning or not, but that's not really relevant right now, even though in general, I would say yes.

But even discounting art, the same entertainment can get old and stale. Entertainment is constantly being driven by a need for more. More movies, more music, more games, more books, more everything. And most of it is pretty bad, but it's still worth it to people to do more. But just more of the same isn't enough for people I think, we also want something new, something to innovate and to inspire. If we didn't we would just be satisfied playing pretend with rocks like a small child.

Why the way we entertain ourselves should change:

The thing is, something new and innovative is exactly what the entertainment industry bad at, and they seem to often be even worse at doing art at times. The industry is run in the name of profit not in the name of entertainment or art. It likes safe investments, predictable trends, sequels, genres, and doesn't really care about how good the product is as long as it sells well, and will often meddle in it's own product to get a few extra sales.

Furthermore, entertainment has become way too expensive and addicting. We no longer seem to use it to enrich our lives, but instead let it control our lives. I do think fiction of various forms such as games and films are valuable besides their entertainment value, for artistic merit, or for the spread of cultural memes, but I don't think all our time and money should be spent on them either.

The real problem I guess, is that we live in a culture where entertainment is a big and binding thing, something people flock to in droves and use to define who they are as much as their political or religious beliefs. And the industry pumps more and more money into bigger and bigger things, without really delivering much substance or innovation. Entertainment is to most people no longer something people can do on their own within a reasonable budget.

Things that may help:

First, one thing that is happening already is a number of people are moving away from big budget industry entertainment. People in the "indie" crowd for various media are growing stronger, and entertaining things can be found online for free which are growing in popularity. The internet is full of ways to entertain yourself for nothing or almost nothing. Cell phones often come with free or low cost games, music and other options. The biggest problem is that as these alternate entertainment venues become more popular, the industry will try to get in on it. This has already started to happen on the internet as more and more things become commercial or copied by bigger budget cooperations. Even free ones are often plagued with advertisement and other meddling. In the end, unless we don't stop this trend, we will have changed the medium but not the problem.

There is one way we can attack the industry at it's core, and that is by reforming (or even ignoring) copyright laws. Copyright laws were created to give people an incentive to innovate by guaranteeing a brief time where you could produce the work without competitors. The problem is, that brief time was extended again and again and is used more as a way of controlling something and forcing others to do things the way you want to do it then protecting innovation. If copyright was extremely reduced or demolished, the industry would no longer have an excuse to profit on entertainment as much. Would this mean that no entertainment would be created? No not at all. There are plenty of people who are still willing to create, and plenty of people still willing to donate to have things made. It would simply mean the end of the massive bloated monster that todays entertainment has become.

But really, when it comes right down to it, people don't need to change or break any laws, all they need to do is become more proactive and more choosy about how they entertain yourself. Do you really need to see that new blockbuster movie, get that new album, or play that new game? Can't you write or draw or something? Can't you browse the internet for free things to do? Can't you try dreaming up something, or going somewhere with friends? And I am not saying never spend money or anything either, I am just saying, let's choose how we entertain ourselves more carefully.

Really I guess most people are totally content with the way things are now, but this is just how I feel about it.

Randumb

And now, random thought theater:

Really I think one of the biggest problems with the universe is people think there is a problem with the universe. There is just no real ideal state and people assume something is wrong because it's not "perfect". But the universe works exactly the way it's intended to. It's just a chaotic place and it's us who sort things into "good" and "bad". So really, I wish people would realize there is no "way it is meant to be", and instead focus on the "way it could be".

I had a dream a while ago that I was a friend with a sort of artsy-fartsy musician type. He experimented with different sounds and musical styles and asked me if I had any interesting suggestions for his next song. The answer I came up with is something I would really like to see done. Basically I suggested the next time he came up with a song, to document his creative process and the various revisions from first writing it down or entering it into a computer to each major revision and addition, as well as documenting all the tools, programs, and sound sources he used. I really think that would be neat to see. I woke up shortly after so I didn't really see the result in my dream though.

I wrote a review on the Quest For Glory series the other day, mostly talking about how it avoided a lot of the pitfalls of the adventure game genre and added a interesting new spin on it with roleplaying game stuff. I also wrote a review of One Must Fall a while ago. Both introduce lots of character growth and customization to a otherwise rather uninteresting genre. I guess I just like that sort of thing.

Going way way back, Roger Ebert (who should need no introduction) once made comments about video games not being art (which he has since party taken back). I have already ranted about if they could or not, and came with the conclusion that they could (but not always for the reasons people expect). But thats not what I wanted to comment on. I wanted to comment on the reaction he got. Even though his arguments are misguided (as he himself pointed out later), I think the idea that he is simply "old" or "out of touch" is sort of sad. The fact is, people seem to insert a wedge between generations or social groups. The "old" think games are trash and won't play them, the "young" think older things are likewise crap. In fact this is the exact kind of thing I mentioned before between the government and the people. And it's not that they can't understand one another, they just don't even try. Oh well.

The other day I found a online copy of the Principia Discordia, which is pretty neat because I always wanted to read it, though most of it seems like fluff. It always gets me thinking that maybe I should start my own religion, one that combined my metaphysical ramblings with more of a structured mythology. The point would be not literal truth but to teach people how to construct their own religius ideas, and the consequences of using them. I donno.

Anyway yeah.

*bricked*

I found myself going to this site today, even though I have been there about a million times. As you might guess, Pink Floyd probably my favorite bands ever. Mostly because it has a lot of variety and depth to it's music, unlike most rock bands bland rehashes of the same song over and over again. It's also probably because I was introduced to it at a young age via my father, but then again, he also introduced me to Bob Dylan and other classic rock or folk crap I really can't stand that stuff.

Anyway, out of all Pink Floyd's albums, The Wall is probably the most emotionally and symbolically deep (though not necessarily the most musically impressive, but it's up there). When I was young I saw a heavy censored TV version of the movie which was probably the most psychologically fascinating thing I had seen up till that point. All the weird imagery and the basic story really struck a cord with me.

Even before I found the analysis site, I basically had figured out most of the meaning behind it. In fact it's not really that hard to figure out, though it speaks more to your emotions then your mind. I think it really was the start of my love for symbolism and artsy-fartsy stuff in general, though really I can see why some people wouldn't like it. You could say it's a tad pretentious, and to be honest it is a bit. One thing I don't agree with with this stuff is that you need drugs to understand it. I never have and probably never will take drugs, and it's perfectly understandable to me.

I have toyed with the thought of what my own version of The Wall would be like. In the end though, my childhood just isn't angsty enough to really match this sort of stuff. My dad never died in a war, my mom was never that overprotective. It's not that I don't have problems but they aren't a big deal. I also sort of think that would be silly anyway. I am over my angsty teen years after all.

In the end it is just a silly thing made for some silly band, so bah. I honestly forgot what I was trying to do with this post.

Day's Dawning

The sun comes up
Some great it yawning

Coffee in cup
As the day is dawning
It's a

brand

new

day.

Some are that way.





In the dawning light
Between the murkiness

And the daylight
None are their perkiest
But they

find

a

way.

I guess they may.





And in it flows
Sunlight though the curtains

Of all man knows
Only this is certain

On
marches
time.

The
chocks
still
chime.

It's
Almost a

CRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIII-EMMMMM




They need to make a dime...






And all the people who
Work the night shift

Return to bed
To rest their head

And all the people who
Work the dayshift

Prepare
for
a

New day...




New day...




NEW DAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY




*Gutiar solo*

(Funny I wrote this originally as light jazz and it became rock somehow. I guess cause I started in a light jazz 6:00 am and moved to a power rock 8:00 am... not that it matters because I am going to sleep now :P)

Guitar Zero World Bore

I stumbled on an old video reviewing Guitar Hero 5 where the reviewer mostly complains about how the lineup of songs is crap. Well duh. Even if I didn't hate rock to start with, I think the bigger problem is, no matter what the songs are, music games just suck anyway.

From the original DDR, to whatever future Rock Guitar Band Hero 500 game may exist, they suck, always have sucked, and always will suck. They force feed you whatever shitty pop music happens to be popular, they require expensive stupid peripherals to really enjoy, they milk the franchises with more squeals and spin offs then Mega Man or Street Fighter combined, but the worse offense is, they just offer nothing in terms of gameplay or entertainment, unless you count looking like an ass.

For god sakes people, I don't want to turn this into a "casual" vs "hardcore" argument, but fucking Tetris had more variety and interesting gameplay then this. It's like playing something like Dragon Lair where all you do is press buttons every once and a while to not die, except their is no dieing, the buttons are marked for you, and there isn't any interesting cartoon slapstick to make things at least partly entertaining. This is a minigame at best. There is nothing wrong with having some rhythm-based gameplay elements, but why can't we have something interesting to do with them like maybe in RPG combat like Mother 3 or Shadow Hearts, not a long string of them in a row for no reason. Plus if you want MUSIC games, why not hook up real guitars though midi interfaces and actually PLAY THE NOTES and not beat on colored dotes on a cheep plastic stick.

Okay I admit, I never played any of these games, and I probably never will, so maybe there is more too it then I let on. But I doubt it. Can we please, please, just stop buying and making the stupid things and let if fade into an embarrassing fad and move on to making games that actually have gameplay?

Rock is boring.

I created a Pandora Radio station a while ago. I try and seed it with songs I like, though I am rather annoyed at it's lack of video game or some of the interesting remix music I find on youtube, but I guess the whole point is to find real bands with traits I like, and it is interesting what I find sometimes. But I really find half the time I don't like "mainstream" music. At all.

Most of this has to do with over use of the guitar. I hate the guitar. Okay, every once and a while there are some cool guitar songs and solos and stuff, so I obviously don't hate it. Even power chords and other distorted guitar, which are overused to the point where I can hardly stand to admit it when a song that uses them is actually GOOD. Of course, this actually happens with pianos and horns and other musical instruments too. Once a band or genre uses them, they will usually use them in every song, non-stop, until you just want to smash every instrument of that type you see. A no doubt related problem is that all songs by any given band usually sound exactly the same. Even songs I like often are the only songs of any given band that is any good, with some exceptions. I guess it's just part of the bigger problem that most music is mass-produced soulless slop. I guess thats the problem when you have a band composed of 4 or 5 members who each only really play one instrument in one style. And the only reason music tends to follow that formula is due to live concerts. I never attend live concerts anyway. I like studio sculpted music with deep and subtle music, not music blared in your ear until they bleed in a crowd of yelling morons, but maybe thats just me.

Video game music somehow often avoids these problems. Sometimes. I think it's just do to forcing game music to be composed on a theme to fit a variety of different areas or moods. Thats why, for example, Final Fantasy music is so dynamic and rich... each song is fit to it's own theme and they rarely repeat form one game to another. Not only do they have a range of themes, but most songs have different styles, from sweeping classical themes, to hard rock, even to techno or salsa. Other games, like Megaman, also seem to share this somewhat. But few bands do. It's just the same old crappy love song with the same old crappy style repeated over and over. But their are those that don't.

Anyway I am a lot more open to different music then I used to be. I used to only really like game music, but I realized over time, that game music is about the same as any other music really, the difference is they don't play the same song 50 times in a row... usually.