Simplified model of an art object instantiated in a particular medium.
Aristotle provides us the basis for describing practically any art form in terms of its object(s), medium, and manner, while exploring tragedy as a specific example. Smiley gives us the idea of formal and material causes between these elements. Laurel explores this process that Smiley only sketches, and expands this framework to describe computer-based drama. Mateas tackles the problem of how interaction and the experience of agency can fit into this model. It is possible to keep all of these contributions yet still eliminate many of the tensions introduced during this model's evolution.
Returning to Aristotle, we can say that an object of "imitation" is presented through some medium. We can think of this medium as our experience of a "text", whether this be reading a script, watching a movie, or playing a narrative game. The object of imitation does not formally dictate the choice of a certain medium as a whole--a story could be presented as either a novel or as a play. However, the object does formally dictate its construction within a specific, chosen medium--a story's dialog is written within quotes in a novel or spoken by the actors in a play. As an audience, we construct a sense of the object from our experience of its instantiation in a particular medium.
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Argax Project : Dissertation :
A Rough Draft Node http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ztomasze/argax |
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Last Edited: 17 Dec 2007 ©2006 by Z. Tomaszewski. |