Jason Nelson on the future of games as a medium
Guardian has a nice interview with Jason Nelson, an artist/poet who, along with Cory Archangel, is on the forefront of digital art. The interview touches on Nelson’s exodus to Australia (good), the death of Flash (bad), his games (purposefully Byzantine) and where he was giving the interview (a waiting room). Perhaps most interestingly are his thoughts on indie games and their possibilities as art:
With little or no funding small teams of indie producers are creating brilliant experiences that make corporate productions look like embarrassing advertisements for video cards. Some future historian will write about the games currently being built by these creators and label them as THE important art movement of the 21st century.
And not only are they building far reaching and innovative artworks, but they also changing the way we experience and consume art and literature. The traditional gallery space is far less powerful than the web-based or portable device distribution channels that indie game makers use. My games for example, as bafflingly bizarre (or bad) as they are, have had millions of players; I’m reaching those who would never visit a gallery outside a first date or school trip.
We couldn’t agree more. Check out Nelson’s site for his work and a seriously spooky minor-key cello piece.
-Drew Millard
