Artist Research 1 - Ian Cheng
Ian Cheng works the classic feel of old video games into an immersive storytelling experience in his project Emissary. While his own description of the project is a touch confusing, the stories the simulations tell seem to be rather similar - an emissary coming to a group of people and their response to the message. He adds a whole host of possibilities and endings, showing the nature of human interaction. While sometimes the people will listen to their emissary's message and follow, other times they'll react with scorn and be destroyed by the underlying threat. This idea of multiple story lines within the same concept makes the idea feel all the more fluid and real, and less like a pre-determined video game. On top of that, the general atmosphere and tone pushes the boundaries on the video game medium, and gives the viewer the idea that they're standing within the art piece itself.
I personally enjoy his work due to the low poly resolution he gives all his models. Many modern day virtual worlds spend so much time focused on perfect rendering, that it loses the texture of a video game entirely. The blocky feel of the grass, the animals, the people, etc. give an extra layer of love and charm to the project. In some of his videos, models will hit snags and glitch into each other, or characters will simply walk clean through objects. Although many would see this as an issue, I think it heightens the experience even more. Emissary isn't trying to fool anyone into thinking it's real life, it's trying to tell a story. By keeping all these smaller touches, the world feels more creative and real in that aspect. I always tend to enjoy more games and animated media that lean into stabilization, so seeing such a large project revolve around it makes the whole thing that much more enjoyable.
http://iancheng.com/
Although not really a piece on its own, I enjoy specifically this image from Cheng's website. Something about the simplicity of the snakes makes me very happy, and the idea that he went into such detail on the project that he even modeled the snakes shows his devotion to the idea. Plus, these are objectively adorable. Look at them smiling. I'm so delighted.
I personally enjoy his work due to the low poly resolution he gives all his models. Many modern day virtual worlds spend so much time focused on perfect rendering, that it loses the texture of a video game entirely. The blocky feel of the grass, the animals, the people, etc. give an extra layer of love and charm to the project. In some of his videos, models will hit snags and glitch into each other, or characters will simply walk clean through objects. Although many would see this as an issue, I think it heightens the experience even more. Emissary isn't trying to fool anyone into thinking it's real life, it's trying to tell a story. By keeping all these smaller touches, the world feels more creative and real in that aspect. I always tend to enjoy more games and animated media that lean into stabilization, so seeing such a large project revolve around it makes the whole thing that much more enjoyable.
http://iancheng.com/
Although not really a piece on its own, I enjoy specifically this image from Cheng's website. Something about the simplicity of the snakes makes me very happy, and the idea that he went into such detail on the project that he even modeled the snakes shows his devotion to the idea. Plus, these are objectively adorable. Look at them smiling. I'm so delighted.
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