Review: Glitchmark's 'Game Art Melbourne'
By K. on September 5th, 2014
It’s a busy Tuesday night on Elizabeth Street, and I’m keeping my eyes on the building numbers I pass in case I miss my destination – the E55 space, which is, as its name suggests, located at number 55. And easily missable it is – beyond a small crowd congregated on the street I can see a staircase leading downwards, underground, into what appears to be a small bar filled to the brim with energy, experimental music and chatter. And of course, people. The exhibition I am here to see is the Game Art Exhibition, hosted by Glitchmark, a local group of (mostly emerging) interdisciplinary artists, game designers and creatives with a specific interest in exploring and dissecting the way we relate to and engage with the idea of ‘play’, through video games or otherwise. The exhibition itself has been put together with the intent of showcasing visual art from and inspired by video games made in Melbourne; a display of the fresh, home-grown talent that remains perhaps unseen and unexplored in the wider picture of contemporary art and design. Undoubtedly, video games are not something that your usual art aficionado, much less the general public, would associate with the unusual world of contemporary art, and that’s what makes this exhibition’s concept so fascinating. While other institutions such as ACMI have held numerous shows and exhibits to celebrate the intrinsic fun and talent within the gaming phenomenon, very few in Melbourne have endeavored to such a task in the name of contemporary art. Unlike these larger, blockbuster exhibitions, there is less of a focus on the games themselves and more of a focus on displaying the work of local artists, the equivalent of preferring to experience local home-brew instead of widespread commercial product. With this in mind, I move through the throng of people to examine the works hung upon the bar’s red walls.
The works on display instantly give off an impression distinctly similar to the visual style of contemporary cartoons, with series such as Adventure Time and Steven Universe being clear sources of inspiration for a number of works. Colorful, wide-eyed cartoon astronauts with jovial expressions permeate the work of Madison Palmieri, standing atop and barely clinging to Tetris-eqsue blocks. The artworks of Ngoc Vu share a similar style (both artists have work designed around and inspired by a local game called ‘Turnover’), but also features digital artworks for a game called ‘Emma’ – highly emotive, black-and-white drawings designed to explore the experience of a second-generation Asian-Australian that carry a strong sense of visual weight and depth. Richard Adem’s fractal digitally generated geometric line works provide as a clear and refreshing departure from the candy-richness of many of the other artists’ works, and are the only distinctly abstract works on display. However, the standout works of the show are those by traditional artist Marco Ryan – drawn directly onto card paper with a biro pen, the incredibly meticulous and detailed mechanical creatures come to life on the walls more than any other work on display. Each one inspired by a different aquatic animal, Ryan’s works are purportedly inspired by games such as Abe’s Exodus and Bioshock, names that are well-known to many gamers. However, this is as far as the effectiveness of the exhibition’s works go – despite intentions that are effective in theory, a number of ineffective and confusing curatorial decisions prevent the exhibition from fulfilling its immense potential.
The first and most notable poor decision is the inconsistency in the display of the works themselves – works from each artist are framed so significantly differently that it becomes distracting in the overall scope of the exhibition. A worryingly high portion of the works are let down by their poor presentation – cheap-looking inkjet prints and tacky pseudo-metal frames are frequent, taking away any aspect of professionalism that would otherwise have been attained. Some works were also framed crookedly, or came off the wall in a lopsided way, preventing the charm of many smaller prints and works from shining through. (Indeed, part of what makes Ryan’s work so outstanding is the meticulous and clean framing of his work, which is topped off by a beautiful red wax seal.) While a clear and consistent theme was evident in the event’s catalog description, I sometimes struggled to see the relevance of the work to the topic – were these designed to be a wide and diverse representation of the art from games made in Melbourne, or were they just digital art pieces from artist who happened to be somehow related to game design? While some works had a clear inspiration and purpose, others had seemingly little relevance to a specific game or project, instead being more like ‘an artwork done by a game designer’ rather than ‘a piece of artwork done from or inspired by videogames’. Another question that is brought to my mind is whether the exhibition truly is representative of the in-depth aesthetic and cultural concerns that Glitchmark aims to explore – I personally believe that the exhibition would have benefited from having less works from more artists, perhaps one or two from each, instead of large volumes of prints from only a select few (and this, I believe, would be better representative of the enormous talent and diversity of the Melbourne community). On the more positive side, the exhibition’s homely and inviting execution lacks the impersonality of larger commercial exhibitions, which gives the viewer an opportunity to interact with game art and its creators in an intimate and positive way.
While the worlds of contemporary art and videogames are, in a wider cultural context, very separate, independent groups such as Glitchmark are attempting to slowly bridge the gap and create works that challenge the very definition and boundaries of ‘play vs. art’. The Game Art Melbourne Exhibition is, despite its shortcomings, a very good step in this direction – indeed, this ambitious first attempt for the group signals intentions that can only improve in the future, and offer the potential to breathe new life into the way we, as consumers, see video games.
Although the Glitchmark exhibition is now finished, you can still browse their website for information and a catalogue: http://glitchmark.com/game-art-melbourne-exhibition/
