Artists in Rapture

* See also Sander Cohen and his SanderCohenArt
* See also Wales Brothers Architects
* See also Dionysus Park - Sofia Lamb's Societal Rant 
* See also Decorations
* See also Art Deco
* See also Artists_in_Rapture
* See also Mediocrity_Leaves_The_World - Why did Artists Come To Rapture ?
* See also Mask_Fun
* See also Player_Creation_Contests
* See also Book_and_Pamphlet_Publication
(The 9 Muses) 
* See also Music
* See also Poetry
* See also Sculpture
* See also Gardening
* See also Paintings
* See also Literature
* See also Photography
* See also Acting - Tragedy, Comedy, Drama
* See also Clothing
* Sea also Museums And Public Art
--- --- --- --- ---
BTW - WHY Would An (Accomplished) 'Artist' Come to Rapture ??? :
(( THE SAME QUESTION ASKED ABOUT SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, AND BUSINESSMEN ... ))
I wonder about some of the 'artists' who came to Rapture, when the 1940's/1950's World already largely leaves them alone in most of their 'expression' ( weirder ones might get looked on with derision/ridicule more than anything else ). Many already had freedom to move to places more tolerant of even fairly vile art styles. Political artists could escape from any oppressive country to the Free World just as easily as go to Rapture.
What was the criteria for them being accepted into Rapture - and 'for their part', being willing to limit their venue to a City of only 20000 - 40000 people -- ( Which is really only a town's population ) ? That especially for 'Performers' -- "The Kickettes - 2 Weeks Only" ... (( And THEN WHERE would those be going ??? "The Kickettes - 2 Weeks Only" - ???? - Face it, the game-writers often had things in the game 'For Effect', and apparently did not think too far about what Rapture would really HAVE to be like to fit the proposed situation plausibly/logically/era-historically. Such things likely were Storyboarded before half the Lore was even developed. )) to make Rapture a reflection of the far larger Surface world. Consider : There is not much of a venue 'circuit' for an act to move around between ( What ? A school stage in some satellite suburb/farm community ?? The same 'Show'/Act at a different but similarly reachable place ??? Whatever this was, they would exhaust their paying audience pretty quickly. ).
Were many of them 'refugees' claiming lack of success on The Surface due to 'Oppression', or just were bad 'Artists' ? ( Would an acclaimed 'good' artist want/need to come to Rapture ?? ) Are they more existing as writer's 'window dressing' then for Ryan's ideals ? To have welcomed people who probably would have the same success ( rather - Lack of it ) in Rapture, and have a chance to 'starve' there too ( as in not finding buyers for their 'Art', and become penniless Parasites ).
Some 'artists' may be previously rich and came to Rapture for other reasons ( perhaps to escape Iron Curtain 'culture', or from the predicted Atomic War ). Some might be refugees from still 'wartorn' parts of the World. Others may have been 'run out of' the World's art communities, and have come to Rapture to afflict a captive audience with their particularly disgusting 'art'.
-
The New Rapture City Art Museum has plenty of space for the less frightful 'artwork' that the Players will find in 'the Ruins'.
--- --- ---
 "Unconscious Art" which looks more like someone "Took a paint roller to the Mona Lisa" 
--- --- ---
Aesthetic Achievements - a Goal for Players :
Idea is to have social oriented goals - for Players clothing/premises/possessions ( rebuilding and acquiring 'upscale' stuff for a reason ... ) ie - in apartment having symmetrical decorations of Art Deco style (or theme x) complete wall paper of the same pattern on the fully repaired walls. Proper aesthetic decorations, etc...
Judgement mechanism using templated goals and rules that can test conformance algorithmically. Objects will already have a 'quality' attribute as part of their definition, and acquiring 'better' is simple.
Combination and placement are simply reversing many of the 'auto-generation' mechanisms used to compose 'terrain' for the game.
The New Rapture City Center is trying for this itself, to try to show New Rapture can be what Rapture once was - to inspire the Citizens. Parties/Events being social functions which demonstrates the return to normalcy.
How many games did you play in where what you wore made no difference at all to the game ? All kinds of crappy cosmetic loot with no real 'rhyme or reason' ? Sorry, you don't wear a tie, you aren't allowed into The New Kashmir Restaurant !! NPCs to react appropriately, even if other Players do not. Egalitarianism is not an excuse for Bad Taste.
Lest people be left out, there are expansive ramps for this element of the game, and as always Players can completely ignore it, but just not earn the gains following thru can achieve.
It is actually an interesting idea that some Players won't bother to go get dirty out in 'the Wilds' of Old Rapture, but would instead concentrate on the socializing in the aesthete venues. The more I think about some of these specialized playstyle niches, the more it may be likely to have one big gameworld Server, or some Bizarro subsets which cross/overlap within the 'Server Worlds' to have a sufficient population of interested Players.
Those Paintings look an awful lot like works by Tamara de Lempicka 
--- --- ---
Looking at Some of the Unconscious Art ( Not "Post-TransOrbital Lobotomy""Post-TransOrbital Lobotomy Art" as Ryan might privately label it ... Art ?? ) :
See Sander Cohen Art
Another 'fun' Asset for Player Contests would be : Taking various famous/infamous art and 'fixing' it ( Unconscious-ify it )
The copyright/trademark issues considered how far that must be done, and then having it In-Game ( possibly even be unique - except for intentional forgeries ).
A Painting Tool In-game ?? Heh, even have one of those kids (educational) 'discover'-type games, where for the painting on your bought canvas you wipe away the outer paint, and have the preexisting 'art' be revealed ... 
--- --- ---
Art Achievements for the MMORPG:
* Exhibit - recover/bring in 'art' from the 'Wild' ( always good for a laugh from normal citizens )
* New Creations - Player Created Assets and In-Game Art creation mechanism
* 'Lost' Music ( bring in all those surviving records you find 'out there' )
* Literature ( recovery of books from the ruins - some survives in the water-logged city places )
** Recover a copy of "Murder on the Atlantic Express ..."
* Paintings/Sculpture
* Public Performances
** "Earth, Water and Fire ..." The Tectonics (singing group) ? The Geotherms ?
** Stage (theater plays) - people are starved for entertainment - so 'standards' are not that high
** Performance Art - like smashing/burning Cohen's atrocities ...
** Karlins Kutting Quips : There's always a Bottle, Some Lips, and A Vending Machine ...
* Topiary ??? ( it is just another medium - use the In-Game art creation mechanisms )
* Gardening (why not ???) - actually takes more skill than most of what passes for 'art' ...
* Prestige Projects ( Organized if not Performed ) ...
--- --- ---
Art For the Masses :
It will be possible in many places ( Residences, Shops, Restaurants ) in New Rapture to have real decorations ( paintings and such ) rather than so many advertisement posters. All that High-Falutin Art in 'the Ruins' is there 'for the taking', and will need proper places (like over a bars), and there's still plenty of space for the adverts (new ones) out in the streets. Half the fun will be the odd titles being given to the artworks.
--- --- ---
The "Artists Struggle" : Art Gallery Seen On the Main Street in the BaS DLC :
Where do you find MOST 'artists' in the Real World, and why is the term 'Starving Artist' a byword ( and "don't quit your day job" ) ? How many truly good artists could Rapture have ?
Would such a place ('Art' sales gallery) occupy High-Rent space ( are there enough Rich people to justify an entire fancy LARGE venue ? ) On the other hand, ALOT of good art could have been brought originally from The Surface, which later had to be sold off ( some to The Surface to be used to Purchase smuggled luxuries ). Few Ritzy Galleries ... and perhaps keeping the place Spiffy costs even more than the Rent that Ryan asks for on a prime commercial location ( Rapture was pretty well paid for when he cashed in his Billions up there ).
Art Critics are just another flavor of Parasite when they gain too much power/influence for common sense to overrule them. So the artists, expecting THEY will be successful and rich, would be more common in Rapture than any who actually were successful/talented. If the art buyers don't like the 'art' an artist produces, there is not much the artist can do but earn a living another way ( and there would be 'only so many' rich patrons, who THEMSELVES generally will demand the kind of art THEY want produced. ) So, expect many 'amateur artists' ( and alot of 'bad art' STILL around Rapture ) ...
http://museumofbadart.org/ << actually a quite-amusing website
As usual, there could be the 'Fads' and 'Trends' and 'Gimmicks' with which the 'Idle Rich' people try to outdo each other with ( and which the common people 'shake their heads at' ). The truth is : For a long time much of the so-called 'Art' is more "The Art of the Scam", performed by art critics/dealers who have to come up with something 'new' to sell to the suckers each new year.
--- --- ---
"Art" - When the Title is More Important than the Actual Rendition ... : 
Gimmick of the 'Faux-Artiste' said to be 'good'/'great' by Art "Critics" looking for attention, and the following commissions from people stupid enough to buy into their touted 'knowledge' and self-declared 'correctness'.
The Age of the "Art of the Scam" ... Modern 'art' which looks like 'A gorilla took a dump on a canvas' is called 'Great' and 'Significant' -- And if they stuck some wooden sticks into it then it would be 'Revolutionary". Such is the state of the 'Critics' universe ( seen today in Our World ).
( Oh, You Thought I Was Talking About 'In The Game' ??? )
--- --- ---
Photography As Art :
Cameras can be used by just about anyone, and it takes a different skill set ( but similar Art Critic 'BS' ).
Photos would be seen in Art Galleries (Viewed or Sold) in Rapture. All the 'art' photo criteria can apply ( including doing it in the styles of various real world famous photo art ).
Seems a natural 'Customization' feature for the MMORPG -- Players having Pictures taken by Players in the Game as Objects.
--- --- ---
Art Treasures of Rapture (Real) :
* Miscellany made up by actual artists ( some Asset Creators are quite good at making/mimicking similar 'Art' objects and styles ).
* Probably no 'Copyright' issues with most quite-old art stuff ( though published 'pictures' of them used as their basis might be ).
* Models of Sculptures ( Game needs to have low quality representations of real artworks -- You don't want to blow the rendering budget anyway ... THOUGH 'CLOSE UP' LOD MODE maybe in the MMORPG. )
* Original things done in known/famous/notorious styles ( and not all of it has to be that 'Modern Art' we saw in BS1/BS2. )
* Seeing them without being all stained, worn, and water soaked ( Ack!, now they actually have to be better detail instead of the vagaries we saw in the BS1/BS2 Solo games ).
* "Modern" animated (mobiles) sculptures using the fabrication assemblage mechanisms ( all kinds of weird crap was supposedly 'art' in that time period ... ) I think a decorative 'mobile' of Splicer masks might be interesting. When did putting funny words on T-Shirts start ???
NOTE - The Minervas Den DLC has some claim that Porter had brought that copy of Rodin's NOT "RODAN" THE FLYING MONSTER OF JAPAN - THAT'S IN INFINITE BS COLUMBIA WITH BIGBIRD "The Thinker" to Rapture. Many official copies were made and cheap replicas would be legion. Replica would be Logical when Porter was supposedly a poor Academic.
--- --- ---
That Other Theater :
" 'Bedtime Surprise' was a play written by Sander Cohen, that was shown in the Footlight Theater and Fleet Hall. Possibly, it was one of the Propaganda Plays promoting Rapture's rising."
The Footlight Theater was quite small, and perhaps strained the artistic abilities by its severe limitations ( forcing alternate artistic presentation content and emphasis ). Perhaps experimental audio visual stage effects were possible ( Note Sander Cohen's Andy Warhol type delving into film 'art' ... ). Perhaps things like audience participation were frequently employed. With it being a Sander Cohen production, perhaps the bizarre and unusual aspects became the reason to go see his Plays in this venue ( which itself looks more appropriate to a Burlesque theater ).
In Rapture, after all, it was more than the Air which had to be recycled ...
--- --- ---
Biggles - Seen frequently on Rapture TV.
Performance Art}}
--- --- ---
Fuzzy, The Painting Cat ( much acclaimed, until Sander Cohen had his greatest Rival killed ).
--- --- ---
Iconic Building "Look" (Copied for Rapture) :
The Iconic 'Art Deco' Chrysler Building (finished 1930) for all its modern look was still made of interlocking steel girders, 3826000 bricks, poured concrete floors, and some early stainless metal decoration around its top. 
Rapture was constructed out of precast concrete, and similarly the materials are irrelevant to a building's "look" ( Decoration, including thin cladding, can be added to the concrete surfaces -- As was done a great deal in Art Deco Construction ).
-
The Chrysler buildings footings ( sitting on bedrock well below street level ) were welded together boxes of short lengths of girder sunk into a mass of cement. Rising Girders were fastened to heavy steel brackets welded to those embedded girders.
--- --- ---
"Museum of Bad Art" for Rapture
Player submissions/contests ( It IS actually hard to make truly 'bad art' ... ). Includes '3D' sculptures, and 'animated' art which became popular in the Abstract end of the spectrum. The usual vetting for legal purposes would be done.
Artists - "Don't quit your day job". Amateurs and Posers are fully capable of generating 'bad'. But mediocre bad is quite common. Really BAD is alot harder to come by. The skill might be mimicking things that were in the original games - taking them further.
Of course you could just have a Game supporting Website for this, though it IS more fun to actually see your 'artwork' IN the game ( Maybe just the rejects live on the website, and the 'chosen' worthy ones can be inserted into the game ).
** SEE http://museumofbadart.org/ to see the kind of thing I am talking about.
--- --- ---
Hitting Rocks - Sculpting the Old Fashioned Way :
I was in the tunnel down into Smugglers Hideout and beat on the walls a little with the wrench ( interesting all the different sound effects and decal deformations and sometimes particle effects of chips falling off, etc ... which they have for different terrain materials and objects. ) I saw the chips off the wall and thought "hey why not have a way in the MMORPG to modify 'chip-able' materials like that more realistically and make 'art' for the MMORPG". 
In BS1/BS2 such chipping leaves only surface marks (that eventually go away), but in a high detail game like the MMORPG the physical shape could be changed/deformed permanently by the players action. Crude shaped art ( which would fit right in alongside all that stuff Sofia Lamb had in Dionysus Park ) could be made in-game. 'Tool interfaces' could exist for better/more complex/precise player created art shapings ( without resorting to more complicated CAD type Asset creation tools ). The resulting 'art' would be a '3D' Object that could be submitted for placement ( vetted first for improper content ), and if accepted could be injected into the game ( can always use more unique 'art' to stick into the ruins ).
Other Art - painting, topiary... could be likewise done and even combined.
An extension of that same mechanism would be generalized to things like wall sections that would be permanently marked/damaged to the extent of actually digging/breaking through a wall ( better tools might speed it up - including explosives/pickaxes ). That door is broken/jammed? - batter it down. Need a shortcut ? - Chop a hole thru the wall. A Safe you can't hack ? ... etc....
--- --- ---
Strange Enema Art ? :
Who knows what strangeness ADAM-Addled Splicers got up to ?
This was a 'little too much' even for Sander Cohen, when HE learned of it.
-
Playing 'Charades with Guns' is a little less noisome. 
--- --- ---
Beauty Marks - Frequently an Artist 'Fad' :
For a short time at the start of the ADAM craze, when only affluent people could indulge to excess, the external 'marks' which were one of the 'Splicing' side-effects were seen as 'trendy'. A style of applying makeup to reproduce the 'marks' became a fad for some of the city's 'well off' dissipaters ( When alot of other Citizens said "WTF ?". )
Edwardian Dress became the rage, along with heinous/hideous facial deformities perpetrated with pounds of makeup - Rapture's Decadent Age came just before its 'Fall'. (( Now THAT'S Epic story detail. ))
--- --- ---
Shemp Howard ( the most talented Stooge ) allegedly died in 1955, but perhaps he had had enough of 'Moe' and fled to Rapture ???
Three Stooges Mode Mini-Game
--- --- ---
'Mobiles' (Those String Hanging Thingees) As Art Items :
Provide "Kits" to hang your (Players) own selected junk to make it unique ( some of these things can scare the hell out of any not-quite-insane Splicer. ). An In-game assemble-able mechanisms ...
Splicers in Rapture have lots of time... ( So expect to find many of these about out there ) - another semi-random asset to make things 'unique-enough'...
A fairly simple mechanism ( their graphics programming ) which could largely be run IN the Player's GPU ( taking any load largely OFF the central Game Servers ).
Seeing lots of hanging objects like these ( Hmm you hang stuff up to keep it out of the puddles and damp... ) would add a little motion to the static terrain might make the Rapture World more 'alive'.
It would also give the Player a more complex visual environment to have to pick out objects ( goodies or threats or just amusing 'of interest' things ).
Some very pretty (Player created) animated effects could be made using this mechanism.
--- --- ---
Proven WOW Value (Water Sculpture):
All kinds of 'do-it-yourself' water sculptures - another in-game Editing Tool to design and place various decorative components and water flow devices and lights. The particle generators ( mists and 'Fountain-ey' things ) and moving texture 'flows', pooling effects would have to adjust to the Object's assemblage ( 'baking' the Asset On-the-fly ). And for Players nostalgic for their past in 'the Ruins' - add flames to the artwork. Perfect thing for your apartment's front room/atrium.
--- --- ---
"Tricky Waters" - Musician in Rapture :
Why would a real musician come to Rapture for artistic reasons ? As by post WW2, there was alot of freedom for music ( perhaps less for lyrics ). Why would any performer come to such a limited venue as Rapture.
* Feared World War 3 (end of world) - The music will go on ? 
* Maybe came from an oppressed place like the Soviet Bloc
* Booked by an Agent who didn't mention it was a One-Way Trip ?
* Someone running AWAY from fame ? ( idea that could be used at least once )
Did Rapture have 'Rock' before "Rock" on the Surface ?? ( No there wont be endless people dressed like Elvis walking about the City - except in some Splicer Nightmaree ).
Alternate Names : "Muddy Waters", "'Tap' Waters", "Jack Perrier", "C. Slugg" "Dieppe Waters" ...
--- --- ---
Time Art :
Time is one of the valuable resources of the Modern World. Therefore there should be some Art representing its concept and its interrelation with Society and the Individual. Normal paintings, mechanical devices, etc ... would be likely forms.
Sensory Art :
Smells Taste Touch should be explored in this kind of thing. Museum of Smells and Tastes .. no doubt.
The MMORPGs Asset generation tools and the game Modular simulation system could present just about anything you could think of.
Player/NPC reactions to smells in the Environment was already one aspect to be added.
--- --- ---
Having Advertising as Art" - NOT!!! :
With all the advertisements around Rapture, a plausible luxury would be their absence as decorations - kinda odd to have advertisement posters seen in Residences. Except that the game designers apparently decided to avoid more costly unique 'art' Assets, recycling existing posters, which probably was helped by a limited game level Asset memory budget ( how much graphics memory available ). Their use as filler material weren't THAT obvious, were they ? ( OR is Some weird implied Rapture societal overemphasis on 'consumerism', as per the writers "CAPITALISM BAD!!!!!" slant ).
--- --- ---
Humor As An 'Art' :
Museum/Art Studios with audio visual presentations ( good place to put all the stuff Players will create that doesn't fit anywhere else ).
* Interactive 'art'
* Kinetoscopic Amusement ( line-drawings, collage animation, simplified real video, etc ... )
* 'Museum of Bad Ideas' ( including live action demonstrations )
* Atrocities Against Art (the truly bad stuff)
* 'Pop' Art ( bubble gum as a medium - '3D' )
* Punch Line ( how obscure can a joke be ? )
--- --- ---
Animated Tattoos (An Amusing Asset Idea) :
All the rage in Rapture just before the %27civil_war%27 broke out.
Bioluminous too ... ( Field day for the Player Creators and another reason for closeups of faces ).
Yes. you COULD have real 'Hypnotic' eyes like those advertised glasses things in the old comic books.
--- --- ---
The Truth ( Painful Are The Limitations Of The Real World ) :
Unless you can somehow get Brain-Boosted Cats to do animation, don't expect any Walt Disney to operate in Rapture ( Walt Disney had to pay most of his army of animators peanuts to be able to afford to make his Film Masterpieces - It is true that many of the jobs required only limited common skills in what's effectively an animation assembly-line. ) Sander Cohen's creepy 'film' stuff will be the highlight of that sort of thing now. ( Note- That type of 'film art' is reminiscent of Andy Warhol's, and others, moving on into the newer medium of 'film' for their 'Art'. )
The same goes for the MMORPG ( routine things for the game will be legion, but the technology advancement and mindset may produce some extraordinary artistry ). Again, I invoke realization of the difference which 'Computer Publishing' has made to produce so much seen today ( including the systems you are reading THIS here on this very second ).
--- --- ---
--- --- --- --- ---
.
.