The Changing Frontier

The world is changing. The way people read is changing, the future of the publishing industry and other artistic markets, if you will, have all shifted dramatically just in the last few years. But is this something to be afraid of, or to embrace?
In the new artistic frontier, we are given even more opportunities. Publication is easier than ever! Even I have released a Kindle book of short stories that would simply never see the light of day otherwise.
But the new frontier also means that other mediums have arisen for real and earnest artistic expression.
When you think of video games you likely think of say, Pac-Man or Super Mario Brothers. You likely think of video games, as well, games; challenges to be completed. But just recently the court ruled that video games were a valid art form. It may be hard to tell if you are slogged down in a world of MMOs, but artistic expression has taken off in the video game world dramatically in the last few years. Last spring I played a game that shook me and caused me to question what I really regarded as art. It was a game called The Path developed by Tale of Tales, a forerunner of what is commonly called the “artgames” genre and what they prefer to think of as the “notgames” initiative. The idea is to use the video game technology to cause a real emotional and psychological experience. The Path is just that. There are no goals, no rules, no ticking clock. The game recasts “Little Red Riding Hood” with seven sisters who are given the same instructions, “Go to Grandmother’s House. Stay on the Path.” You can follow these instructions, and the game ends, calling you a failure, despite seemingly achieving your goals. If you do not follow these instructions, and you stray from the titular path, you run the risk of being lost in the woods forever, stumbling across objects that unlock different aspects of each sister’s personality. And then of course, you may run into a wolf, which will end the game as a success. There are no goals, simply exploration into the psyche of each sister as you try and understand her view of the world, what brings her to the woods, and what the wolf means to her. It is a chilling, haunting piece, and certainly, while it is a video game, not like any game I have played before. It is a thought-provoking art piece.

While they have existed since newspapers themselves began, comics have taken a great leap in the digital frontier, with Dark Horse, the largest indie publisher in existence, being a forerunner in the digital world. As any glance at the world of webcomics will show you, comics have done nothing but thrive in the new frontier. While there still exists a cultural stigma that shrugs off this artistic medium as capes and nothing but, they are missing the big picture. Since the 80s, comics have developed into a medium as profound as any. Works like Maus, a dramatic retelling of the Holocaust experience through the comic book medium, won a Pulitzer Prize for literature. And the genre has only expanded. Writers like Neil Gaiman known for his work in genre-bending literature like American Gods have contributed mightily to comic books, working with a number of titles and applying the same genre bending to this medium as he does in literature. His work with The Sandman graphic novels was heavily acclaimed, winning a number of awards, and widely considered a “masterpiece” of the new wave of comic books. And let’s not discredit capes either. Over the years, as 2008 film The Dark Knight should have been an indication, superhero stories themselves have become a valid artistic medium, as in Batman pieces such as Year One, The Long Halloween or the anthology collections, Black and White which has featured some of the most thought-provoking story telling and provocative art I have seen. Any writer in the field should be honored to work in the comic book medium, which is only soaring as the digital world levels the playing field further and makes it easier for more fresh voices to filter into the art field.

The bottom line is, the world is changing for artists and writers and the things we once considered childish can be works of exquisite beauty. Are your talents up to the task?