EA Game Innovation Lab: The Night Journey: Walk Through
Artist(s):
Title:
- The Night Journey: Walk Through
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2007
Medium:
- A video game/art project in progress
Category:
Artist Statement:
The Night Journey is a video game/art project based on the universal story of an individual mystic’s journey toward enlightenment. Visual inspiration for The Night Journey is drawn from the work of Bill Viola. Narrative inspiration comes from the lives and writings of great historical figures including: Rumi, the 13th-century Islamic poet and mystic; Ryokan, the 18th-century Zen Buddhist poet; St. John of the Cross, the 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet; and Plotinus, the 3rd-century philosopher. The interactive design attempts to evoke in the player’s mind a sense of the archetypal journey of enlightenment through the “mechanics” of the game experience: the player’s choices and actions. A voyage through The Night Journey takes a player through a poetic landscape, a space that has more reflective and spiritual qualities than geographical ones. The core mechanic in the game is the act of traveling and reflecting rather than reaching certain destinations (a trip along a path of enlightenment).
Technical Information:
The game is being developed with videogame technologies, but it attempts to stretch the boundaries of what game experiences
may communicate with its unique visual design, content, and mechanics. The team has created a set of custom post processing techniques for the 3D environment that evoke the sense of “explorable video,” integrating the imagery of Bill Viola’s work into the game world at both a technical and creative level.
