Korean language

Arrdon

Arrdon is an artist who attempts to reconstruct reality through various technologies and media, one-person productions combining short novels and moving through sound, graphics, video, performance, and works that leadd to a game-like format for interacting with the artwork are an ongoing exploration of genres and formats and a constant question of how effective works placed in reality will be.

Arrdon, Too Much Play, mixed media, game, single channel video , 2018

Too Much Play

'Too Much Play' is composed of three different works with gaming elements applied to each genre. All of them have a strong open-world nature, providing players with non-linear storytelling and a high degree of freedom. 'Idiot Map' is a game where players use their personal mobile devices to control their avatars and explore the exhibition space (Space Can). 'Mechanical Novel' begins with typing the provided text. Depending on the key combinations entered by the audience, the screen's text, graphics, and sound change, and in the end, players see the short text they wrote and the resulting visual effects. The video 'Outdoor Advertising Inquiries' takes place on the rooftop of a building and tells an augmented reality story about advertising signs installed on the rooftop and the texts passing through them.

Initial Work Plan

The initial concept for 'Too Much Play' started with the keywords "story" and "interaction." It evolved from a previous project titled "Appear" (a project lasting six weeks with text games, 8-bit games, and audiovisual performances) which explored the use of technology and interaction in creating performances. Since the final product was to be presented in the form of a performance or exhibition, to continue experimenting with these ideas, I was looking for a way for the audience to interact with the work and decided to use the medium of games. The title "Too Much Play" is a parody of the contemporary notion of TMI (Too Much Information), reflecting how people engage with a surplus of content daily. It occurred to me that there are similar tendencies in the way artists work through their work and the way audiences receive it. I wanted to project this into this work, so I created three different games that could be approached as 'over'played, through 'over'work. The project 'Too Much Play' consists of three games that all share gaming elements but were developed with two changing factors:
1) Who is the player? (Audience or artist)2) What tools are used for playing the games? (Mobile devices, keyboard inputs, AR camera)

Work Process

In the development process, the project started with implementing Space Can as the backdrop for the games. Two of the games, 'Idiot Map' and 'Mechanical Novel,' were designed as open-world games characterized by non-linear storytelling and free exploration. The goal was to provide each audience member with a unique experience tailored to their understanding of games and their level of active gameplay.However, as development progressed, the complexity of gameplay led to simplification and reduced freedom. The games became challenging for the audience to understand and engage with. The challenge was to get audiences to go beyond simply appreciating the artwork in the exhibit hall and actually play the game to understand the rules of the new game. If the project were to start again, a simpler approach resembling classic games accessible to a broader audience would be considered.The space for each game was modeled in 2D or 3D, considering the game's characteristics, and in the case of AR, factors like the size of the rooftop and the brightness of the surroundings. The final games presented were as follows:

1. Idiot Map

'Idiot Map' is a game where visitors access it through a QR code on a website using their mobile devices. In this game, visitors control their avatars to explore the exhibition space, Space Can, while physically viewing the exhibition. The game is designed for players to complete tasks on the exhibition map while experiencing the actual exhibition.

Developed using Pico-8, an 8-bit-style development tool, the game transforms the exhibition space's first and second floors, rooftop, and stairs into a 2D plane. It places treasure chest-like objects at locations with works by participating artists or where events occur during the exhibition period. Visitors' avatars can interact with these objects by touching them, which increases their fatigue. When the fatigue reaches 10, the game ends.

Arrdon, Idiot Map, 8bit game, 2018

2. Mechanical Novel

'Mechanical Novel' is a game that explores the metaphor of typing. To unveil the inner workings of the countless texts entered through keyboard keys, we implemented the interior of a mechanical keyboard in Unity 3D. We aimed to create a game that could realistically model reality and even venture into surrealistic expressions. To achieve this, we constructed models for the keys of a mechanical keyboard, including keycaps, springs, and input switches. We created short animations depicting keycaps being pressed, springs compressing, and input switches moving.

This game is divided into two stages. Players can enter the first stage using the SPACE + 8 command on the intro screen. We used the unique command SPACE + 8 to encourage players to experiment with various keyboard keys. When the game starts, a 60-second countdown begins, and the game ends when the timer reaches 0.

In the first stage, players experience and experiment with text, animations, and sound effects based on keyboard input (any key command). In the second stage, 'The World of the Keyboard,' players can explore the game from a first-person perspective using W (↑), A (←), S (→), and D (↓) commands. To guide the player (the audience) into the 'World of the Keyboard,' we mapped each key on the physical keyboard to objects representing keyboard keys in the game. When a player presses a key, the corresponding object triggers animations and sound effects. Consequently, the graphics and sounds on the screen change according to the player's input key combinations.

Arrdon, Mechanical Novel, game, 2018

Mechanical Novel, clear axis for mechanical keyboards

Mechanical Novel, what the keyboard looks like in-game

Mechanical Novel, objects in the "world of keyboards" that are a variation of the keyboard key object

Mechanical Novel, what objects look like in-game

Mechanical Novel, the connection between the exhibition space Space Can (two floors and terrace) and the 'World of Keyboards.' Players actually play Mechanical Novel on the second floor of the SpaceCan, where the second phase of the game begins.

Mechanical Novel, what objects look like in-game

3. Outdoor Advertising Inquiries

The AR video, 'Outdoor Advertising Inquiries,' takes place on the rooftop of an exhibition space. It's a short story that imagines and brings to life the signs of outdoor advertisements installed on the rooftops of large buildings, along with the texts that pass by them. I created this experience using Augmented Reality (AR) technology.

I modeled each text object using Unity 3D and positioned them in the AR space in the order of the story. The objects appear according to the camera's movements on a mobile device. In this project, unlike the others, the artist acts as the player, controlling the AR camera and installing prerecorded gameplay footage for the audience to watch.

Arrdon, Outdoor Advertising Inquiries, AR, single channel video, 2018

Outdoor Advertising Inquiries, I modeled the objects in narrative order.

Outdoor Advertising Inquiries, objects mapped to the exhibition space environment

Outdoor Advertising Inquiries, running with an AR application

Outdoor Advertising Inquiries, play screen

Epilogue

The 'Too Much Play' project, like the 'Appear' project, which received support for interdisciplinary artistic creation, aimed to apply various technologies under the theme of expanding reality. Although game programming, 3D modeling, and AR were technologies that I had used for less than a year, I went through a series of processes, from researching to learning these technologies. Through this experience, I became familiar with understanding new technologies and using them in a simple manner, almost developing a routine of sorts.

However, during the project, the initial priority was determining which technology to use, and there wasn't enough time for deep contemplation of the content of the work. As the project deadline approached, I became engrossed in the technical implementation, making it challenging to assess whether the chosen methods (technologies) were appropriately presenting the content of the work. I continued to feel unsatisfied in this regard. Therefore, in future projects, my primary goal is to first plan the content of the work without being bound by specific technologies. Additionally, to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies, I intend to continue studying programming and modeling.

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