When thinking about my personal aesthetic, I immediately defined it in terms of the things I love in art and media, as opposed to my clothing or room style, for example. I think this is a truer indication of who I am and what I enjoy. I really enjoy all kinds of art including TV, movies, books, and video games, but my largest passion is video games, and I think this section contributes a lot to what I consider to be my “aesthetic”. But it comes from other places as well, including my imagination. When thinking about it, the first thing which came to my mind was fantasy, which I wrote about in my first post for a reason. I love vastly different worlds which usually differ greatly to the real world in terms of day-to-day life, work, environments, technology, and more. The featured image by Damian Sobczyk (1), demonstrates the types of scenery that pull me in and incite my imagination, with its combination of various natural elements, lush colors, enchanting vistas, and more. My favorite game is The Witcher 3, which has an incredibly engrossing world which captures what I mentioned. The wonder of what could be in every corner of the world is very appealing to me, and I love the gorgeous natural environment shown below from one of my screenshots.
Another game that connects to these themes as well is something like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which also exhibits these traits that I mentioned, pulling on the relatively solitary but wonderous side of myself. It also consists of vast, natural, beautiful landscapes that incite my imagination. Below is a screenshot from James Burns (2) on Medium.
My favorite movie is probably also Return of the King, which goes to show how much I enjoy fantasy, and the epic, beautiful, but often relatively empty and isolating worlds that they bring. I can also relate this to the real world and my love for nature here as well. I remember going on vacation in Alaska many years ago, and being so enthralled by all the vast and gorgeous mountain filled landscapes, or the many unknown forests, and more. I took a lot of pictures there. The following photo comes from Alaska Rail Vacations (3).
Unrelated, I think another passion of mine is space as well, for many of the same reasons I think. It is gorgeous, unknown, quite empty and solitary and quiet. I guess I’m just a sucker for adventure, at least in ways you can’t really do in the real world. Interstellar is also one of my favorite movies. In terms of what this means for my main project, I’m not really sure. I won’t be recreating an environment like those I discussed, but maybe an artifact or piece of something I’ve discussed.
Sources
(1) Damian Sobczyk, Photo & Art Print Fantasy landscape art and its profound impact on player engagement and emotional, Damian Sobczyk
(2) James Burns, 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Review | by James Burns | SUPERJUMP | Medium
(3) Alaska Rail Vacations, discover-the-wonders-of-alaska-main.jpg (1143×700)
2 Comments. Leave new
Very interesting, I love the visuals you used and I like what you’re thinking so far for your final project.
Hey Keith,
I enjoyed hearing about what you consider to be your personal aesthetic. I’ve always been fascinated by fantasy type settings in video games myself. I haven’t played the games you mentioned but I’ve always enjoyed the assassins creed, call of duty, and GTA map aesthetics. I think a good idea for your final project would be to make a tool, weapon, or object associated with one the games you mentioned or from Return of the King.