|
 |
 |
Aarseth's ergodic: "users" must work to follow paths |
|
Digital artists may want to make some paths more strenuous than others |
|
To serve artistic goals, HCI techniques can be "misapplied" or reversed |
[read slides]
I am using the term "users" as Aarseth does in Cybertext: a term "suggesting both active participation and dependency." That's pretty much how we use it in the software field.
What I find thrilling about digital art, as opposed to software, is the wide range of goals. Speaking now as a would-be digital artist, we're not just trying to make everything easy, we're trying to challenge and thrill the users as well, sometimes baffle and frustrate them. (You can guess from this that I classify most games as digital art.)
It stands to reason that if I know a technique that generally makes things easier, I can offer it to you, and you can use it in whatever way you like, to serve your artistic goals. Just as I used that lighter on my thumb, instead of a cigarette.