It may seem out of place to be talking about a video game but this is something that l find to have alot of artistic direction. LSD is a video game released in Japan in 1998, it has been dubbed as a "Dream Emulator" by its creator, Japanese artist Osamu Sato, not much is known about Osamu Sato apart from him being an employee at Asmik Ace Entertainment. The game itself is based on a dream journal Sato has kept for a decade, over the years LSD has earned a cult following and has become a popular 'Lets Play' on Youtube.
In LSD, the role of the player is to immerse and navigate through dream world environments, by touching strange objects or bumping into suspicious characters, you will be teleported into another environment, the results of this will cause the textures to change and objects to appear in various environments. When a dream ends you get a graph that keeps track of the players state of mind and the overall general feel of the dream; the states are an 'Upper', 'Downer','Static' and 'Dynamic'.
As you progress through the dreams, the surreal imagery starts to become disturbing, the walls and textures will be covered with Kanji writing and pictures, the floors will be mascot logos (and will squeak as you walk over them), and strange noises will be heard. After long hours of playing, this game conditions the player to become scared and freaked out by every single thing you come across. Occasionally you'll be followed by a grey man in a trench-coat and hat, the Sky will change colour, animals and strange beings will pop-up out of no where. Some dreams are video illustrations and some are poems in Kanji writing, some that have been translated have an unsettling subject matter.
At one point it was like the game knew what scared me and what l didn't like, l kept getting environments that had no music, a deserted space with a black sky, it was like simulating Keno-phobia. What is interesting to note is the soundtrack, the music is jungle-beat, IDM but at the start of the game its completely down tempo and out of pitch, this makes the sound of the music erie but depending on how well you change the environments, the music will significantly change tempo and pitch.
LSD is also one of three seperate products released, besides the video game there was a Remixed Soundtrack CD and a Artbook containing research, concept designs and artworks not just by Osamu Sato but input work by reowned visual artists inculding Kazuko Tsuji.
Overall, l find it amazing how many different formatts this surreal project has gone to, from its conception of music, poetry, a video game and art, a very underrated and ambitous project.
Wanderings
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Saturday, 20 August 2011
HIVE PROJECTS - Rochdale Feel Good Arts Festival 8- 16th July 2011
Its not everyday you see an art festival in Rochdale but last month their was one, called the "Feel Good Arts Festival" and might as well be considered to be the debut of Hive Projects, a recent art gallery that opened in Rochdale's Wheatsheaf shopping centre. Being from Rochdale, l wasn't expecting much but to my surprise it was good.
Their where five projects set up around the town centre, one is a big pixelated painting of the Mona Lisa dubbed the "Mona Lisa Banner" hanging at the top of Yorkshire street (it ain't a art festival without doing a revamp of the most overrated painting in history).
In the middle of Rochdale's main shopping centre, their was "Utopia" where the public is invited through discursive drawings and writings with the artists to develop on what is a Utopia and then transcribe that imagery onto canvass paintings, this not just painting but a performance for that the work is a work in progress that will constantly change by the public input on the theme. I thought this project created a fun atmosphere for that the artists where on edge of projecting the public's imagination.
In the Wheatsheaf centre their was an artist called Lucy McChrystal Plimmer who's project titled "Exquisite Drawing" was leading people to into the drawing process known as 'exquisite corpse' which was adopted by the surrealists in producing images and narratives by association, their was also a video project but sadly l didn't see it because of it only being shown on certain days and times.
The one project that stole the show was the "Heads" project in the heart of the Hive gallery space.
One of the drawings from Karen Lyons “Furies” exhibition.
For this exhibition, Karen writes the following;
“The Furies are 3 sisters of classical mythology – avenging monsters charged
with the punishment of those guilty of crimes against the natural order of
society. They are particularly associated with the punishment of the breaking
of oaths (lies), and for violations against kinship, interpreted here as the
destruction of the caring infrastructure of society; as the violation of the
matriarchal or feminine order.
The Furies are depicted in mythology as completely foul – aged women with
dogs’ heads, bats’ wings, black skin, hair of snakes; sometimes appearing as
swarms of insects. They are foul smelling and ooze vile substances from their
orifices.
As recognisable entities, the Furies (furiae, meaning madness) are produced
here in drawings and 3 sculptural heads, not as simple illustrations but as
metaphors for the external expression of inner rage.”
- Karen Lyons
For more information on The Hive gallery and input at the Art Festival, visit their offical website at http://hiveprojects.tumblr.com/.
-//Wayne
Their where five projects set up around the town centre, one is a big pixelated painting of the Mona Lisa dubbed the "Mona Lisa Banner" hanging at the top of Yorkshire street (it ain't a art festival without doing a revamp of the most overrated painting in history).
In the middle of Rochdale's main shopping centre, their was "Utopia" where the public is invited through discursive drawings and writings with the artists to develop on what is a Utopia and then transcribe that imagery onto canvass paintings, this not just painting but a performance for that the work is a work in progress that will constantly change by the public input on the theme. I thought this project created a fun atmosphere for that the artists where on edge of projecting the public's imagination.
In the Wheatsheaf centre their was an artist called Lucy McChrystal Plimmer who's project titled "Exquisite Drawing" was leading people to into the drawing process known as 'exquisite corpse' which was adopted by the surrealists in producing images and narratives by association, their was also a video project but sadly l didn't see it because of it only being shown on certain days and times.
The one project that stole the show was the "Heads" project in the heart of the Hive gallery space.
One of the drawings from Karen Lyons “Furies” exhibition.
For this exhibition, Karen writes the following;
“The Furies are 3 sisters of classical mythology – avenging monsters charged
with the punishment of those guilty of crimes against the natural order of
society. They are particularly associated with the punishment of the breaking
of oaths (lies), and for violations against kinship, interpreted here as the
destruction of the caring infrastructure of society; as the violation of the
matriarchal or feminine order.
The Furies are depicted in mythology as completely foul – aged women with
dogs’ heads, bats’ wings, black skin, hair of snakes; sometimes appearing as
swarms of insects. They are foul smelling and ooze vile substances from their
orifices.
As recognisable entities, the Furies (furiae, meaning madness) are produced
here in drawings and 3 sculptural heads, not as simple illustrations but as
metaphors for the external expression of inner rage.”
- Karen Lyons
The open space was the perfect way to have an insight into Lyon's work, a work of not just a depiction of classical mythology but human nature aswell. Alongside this was a series of ink drawings of heads by artist Paddy Matthews and downstairs a whole lot of art made by local artists.
Overall, this was a nice taste of the local cuisine, and l sure hope the Hive Gallery will still continue to work in Rochdale or even expand for years to come. Ill be sure to check out their newly upcoming
event...
-//Wayne
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