Week 3: Thoughts on Shaw's "Modalities of Interactivity and Virtuality"

In Shaw's essay, he begins by talking about space in art in general: "The research and development of various mechanisms and codes of spatial representation has been a basic preoccupation throughout the history of western art." He goes on: "And not just in terms of the structure of the image itself, but also in terms of a space of interaction between the image and the spectator." 

What Shaw is basically saying is that man has always been preoccupied with accurately portraying three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface, with the final goal of involving the spectator in the work of art; i.e. making them feel like what they are seeing is real, that they are "in" the world of the image.

These two ideas come together to form a concluding point at the end of his essay: “The activity of Art has always been the interpretation and re-creation of reality….” I agree with this statement. I took art history in high school, and throughout history, man has been trying to portray space with the intent of involving the viewer in the image-world. As I was reading, the art history term that came to mind was a French phrase "trompe-l'œil," which means "trick the eye" and describes a hyper-realistic style where the imagery creates " the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three-dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting" (http://www.alexander-hamilton.net/stylesandthemes/trompe.php).

Artists weren’t successful in this endeavor until the Renaissance, when they discovered the joys of linear perspective. Now, they could “create” huge spaces on canvas that appeared to be extensions of the actual building – be it walls or ceilings. This illusionistic painting style was done on purpose to make it seem like there was a whole other world beyond the building.

Masaccio's "Holy Trinity"

Mantegna's "Camera degli Sposi"

Cortona's "Glorification of the Reign of Urban VIII"

I feel that Shaw is right in connecting art of the Old World with the New World - mankind as artists are always trying to portray things with more depth and realism. While the traditional art world has moved away from this (e.g. modernism, post-modernism, abstract, expressionism), other media are still trying to do this - film (CGI) and videogames being two examples. 

Nowadays, a game is often judged and reviewed on how good its graphics are. I think this is partly because a game that looks and feels real is easier to become absorbed and sucked into, and thus better. Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite are two examples of this hyperrealism for the purpose of virtual reality and viewer interaction. 

I remember when Skyrim first came out, people were posting screenshots all over reddit, showing off the incredible detail in the game. One user, jellyllama, posted an album of 89 different images taken from the game. Link: http://imgur.com/a/WbhTO#0 

Since Bioshock Infinite came out recently, I saw the commercials over and over again. Despite how many times I saw them, I couldn't get over how real it looked - it looked like a movie! Everything was so saturated in detail - characters, settings, movements. Every time it came on, I noticed that I would pause and stare, transfixed at what I was seeing, and almost overwhelmed by not knowing where to look first, such was the visual feast I beheld. And that was only a 30-second or 60-second commercial - imagine if I had actually bought the game! Here's the commercial: