What Does a Decision Look Like?
Decision Painting: Designing Meaningful Choices
Decisions as an Artistic Medium
Rob Gilbert, M.Ed.
Decision Painting: Designing Meaningful Choices
Decisions as an Artistic Medium
Rob Gilbert, M.Ed.
"She eats, drinks, and breathes! She laughs and cries! Dances the tango, answers questions and obeys every command!
Yet, she lived millions of years before man inhabited this earth and has never been seen since!!"
Yet, she lived millions of years before man inhabited this earth and has never been seen since!!"
Winsor McCay's 1914 "Gertie the Dinosaur" is often heralded as a stunning achievement in animation based on its realism, commercial success and on the mastery of drawing, weight, and timing.
But "Gertie" was also an interactive piece. McCay would appear on stage with the projected animation, and had synchronized a dialog with the animation giving to the audience the illusion that Gertie was responding to verbal cues in real time. McCay would give Gertie commands that she would appear to obey (or not obey) in a choreographed stage presentation.
Often studied as a watershed moment in creating the 'illusion of life' in animation, its importance as a piece of interactive media goes largely undiscussed. While the 'illusion of life' in the film is commonly attributed to the realism of the drawings, there is a specific moment where Gertie disobeys McCay's request, "raise your left foot" that may be even more important. By refusing to raise her foot, Gertie has made a decision, or at least the illusion of decision, in context, and in this simple act of disobedience the illusion of life is brought to a high pitch. McCay 'paints' into Gertie an illusion of Free Will. Could it be possible that this simple act of decision, designed by McCay, did more to make Gertie 'real' than any of the drawing, weight, or timing ever could?
But "Gertie" was also an interactive piece. McCay would appear on stage with the projected animation, and had synchronized a dialog with the animation giving to the audience the illusion that Gertie was responding to verbal cues in real time. McCay would give Gertie commands that she would appear to obey (or not obey) in a choreographed stage presentation.
Often studied as a watershed moment in creating the 'illusion of life' in animation, its importance as a piece of interactive media goes largely undiscussed. While the 'illusion of life' in the film is commonly attributed to the realism of the drawings, there is a specific moment where Gertie disobeys McCay's request, "raise your left foot" that may be even more important. By refusing to raise her foot, Gertie has made a decision, or at least the illusion of decision, in context, and in this simple act of disobedience the illusion of life is brought to a high pitch. McCay 'paints' into Gertie an illusion of Free Will. Could it be possible that this simple act of decision, designed by McCay, did more to make Gertie 'real' than any of the drawing, weight, or timing ever could?
Art styles in time-based media and interactive media vary widely, but Homer Simpson seems just as 'real' as Walter White. What is the commonality? Both Homer and Walter appear to make decisions. Could this phenomenon of situated decision making also explain how the vastly, stylistically disparate interactive experiences of "Pacman," "Mario," "Call of Duty" and perhaps even "Poker" derive their 'realism?' It's not the lines nor colors, nor movement nor sounds but rather, the fact that each experience requires decisions to make them 'real.'
Consider the possibility for a moment that, if as artists and designers we set out to 'paint with decisions,' in other words, prioritize the presentation of decision making opportunities to the audience OVER the common prioritization of style, form, color, etc, then perhaps we can create more 'real' paintings, movies, books, and games.
The consequences for this might mean that as teachers, designers, and students we need to learn the tools and processes of decision selection and choices as well as or even as a priority over learning brushes, paint, techniques etc.
The consequences for this might mean that as teachers, designers, and students we need to learn the tools and processes of decision selection and choices as well as or even as a priority over learning brushes, paint, techniques etc.
Why Look at Decisions?
1) To further a discourse on the nature of the decision process and its use in creative fields.
2) To better understand decisions as a core, dimensional element of interaction design and storytelling.
3) Metaphorically, to determine what decision 'brushes' might be used to 'paint' richer interactive experiences, and how choices themselves might be used as visual elements.
1) To further a discourse on the nature of the decision process and its use in creative fields.
2) To better understand decisions as a core, dimensional element of interaction design and storytelling.
3) Metaphorically, to determine what decision 'brushes' might be used to 'paint' richer interactive experiences, and how choices themselves might be used as visual elements.
A quick google search of images under the heading 'decision' invariably gives us image after image of a crossroads, which has been a core theme of music, art, and mythology in many cultures throughout history. Certainly in books and movies, a relatable character often has to make a difficult choice, usually a moral one, and in that moment there is a relatability and 'realism' that transcends visual style, theme, or genre. A skillful storyteller will weave these decisions in such a way that audiences ask the question of themselves, 'what would I have done in that situation?' In this way, there may be an implied interactivity in so-called 'linear' formats. But arguably, if I fall asleep in a movie theater or while reading a novel, the film does not stop nor do the words disappear from the page (I know, if a tree falls in the woods). For interaction and particularly game design, decisions are a defining element of the experience. A user or player must make decisions as a necessary element of the continuation of the experience. Given that, is it possible to study the design of decision opportunities as if it were a core element, or 'pigment' in the 'painting' of interactive and game experiences, much in the way McCay used a decision to 'paint' realism into Gertie? What are the roles of decisions in the visual arts?
Download DecisionPainter App for Android HERE.
Prototype UI for "Decision Maker"
Possible "Decision Painting" generated by Decision Maker
Below are some crude digital renderings of concepts for a possible 'decision opportunity" exhibit. The objects will be made to nudge the audience into "feeling" the decision process.
"Magic Screwball"
"If,then"
"It's Your Move"
"Thaumatrope"
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Decision Machine?
An attempt to explore the question, 'what does a decision look like?' raises some interesting design challenges. Using a touch screen device, the user is prompted to input two possible decision choices, which could be anything from 'brown shoes or black shoes' to 'move to LA or move to Boston.' The user can input anything, and the inputs do not need to be binary opposites. We will call them "choice A and choice B." Once choices A and B are inputted, the user will then be prompted to input decision criteria such as 'brown goes with jeans' or 'LA warmer." The user may build 0-7 decision criterions. The user then assigns a color to each criterion, and, in an emotional-rational action, drags the color squares into a "decision hopper" (represented by the center-screen slit). This tactile activity will allow the user to drag as many color squares as he/she desires into the hopper. For example, Choice A/LA/Warm may get an seven red squares vs. 0 for Choice B/LA warm. When the user swipes the 'decision' word or button, a DECISION PAINTING is generated based on the inputs related to each of the decision criteria. This 'painting' will consist of an array that places squares in unique patterns based on the input criteria, and calculates the number of input criteria so that the final output will be a purely visual representation of the decision process. It is important to note that this is in no way a scientific exercise. Rather, the user, presented with a 'painting' (printed output) will see an array of color squares (see picture below and at top of site) from which he/she will have to make a final decision. While a numeric 'final decision' could be generated, it is important for the purpose of this exercise to merely begin a discussion of the decision process. Kandinsky explored the possibilities of applying the "immaterial" and emotional aspects of music to the act of painting. Understanding this point gives us a foundation upon which we can understand abstract expressionism. If the act of painting was freed from the endeavor to represent the objective world, it could then explore the inner, subjective world. With this in mind, artists began to explore such questions as 'what does an emotion look like?' Or, in the case of Kandinsky, 'what is the color of middle C?'
Keith Burgun has provided game designers with an important definition which distinguishes games from interactive media, puzzles, and contests. Burgun defines a game as a 'contest of ambiguous decision making.' Using this definition, we see that the commonalities of chess, football, Tetris, GTA, do not lie in their algorithms, platforms nor art styles. The defining 'pigments' of 'game experience' are decisions. If, as game designers, we approach game design as an exercise in designing competitive decision opportunities, we may be able to fee ourselves from the constraints of "representational" preconceived form, genre, or platform. The primary objectives of design suddenly become something other than 'I want to build an MMO/FPS/RTS/Board Game/' etc. Instead, it becomes a challenge of designing decision opportunities and opens up the possibilities of putting the user into a much deeper, more emotional experience. The user/player may have to make difficult moral or philosophical choices rather than weapon choices. Core mechanics could become the ability of the player to make the hard choices, or not, rather than mastering the proper button sequences in the digital skinner box. If, then, we are designing decision opportunities, the question becomes, much like the questions of artists who asked 'what does (xemotion) look like,' ... "What does a decision look like?" (or taste like, feel like, smell like, sound like, etc.) |
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