WoW as the artist's canvas
by Amanda Rivera 
May 25th 2007 at 3:30PM
For a while now I have been snagging screenshots to use as my desktop wallpaper. It began innocently enough with a lovely shot of my mage on her flying mount against that breathtaking Nagrand sky. Somehow this idyll hobby of mine has turned into a sort of obsession, where I now have a filing system on my hard drive for various screenshots-turned-wallpaper.
My foray into WoW photography made me think about how actual artists express themselves using the game as a canvas. We watch the machinima with rabid frenzy, are amazed at the ingenuity of those that capture moments for Around Azeroth, bask in the glorious talent of those that create fan art.
We also take role play and express it in terms of performance art. I once went to an interactive media conference where a speaker presented his robot that played his MMO 24/7 in order to create a performance piece that included a row of characters that marched in a certain pattern day in and day out. Has anyone out there experienced, witnessed, or created performance art pieces within World of Warcraft? What was it like to be part of such an experience?
If you as an artist are planning any pieces of performance art, let WoW Insider know about it so that we can showcase your event.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Virtual selves
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ben Abraham May 26th 2007 7:30AM
I think this is a really interesting topic! Unfortunately, I haven't really seen much in the way of "in game art" in WoW.
I was really excited, however, by The Lord of the Rings Online’s in game music creating feature. I've not actually seen it in action, but I hear that people can jam and even recreate 'real world' music in game... Pretty sweet, if you ask me! I'd pay a few (in game of course) gold to go to a concert in wow for an hour or two, provided the music (or the play, anyone?? Now there's a very possible idea!) was good... I can see it now!! Whole crowds of WoW players going /dance with all the undead up the front headbanging!!
LOL
It's a pity (and actually a surprise considering the size of the WoW fanbase) that we don't see more of this kind of thing. There's not even been that much stuff that related back to the real world, from what I've seen. What about a sit in protest to protest 3rd world debt or something. The only thing I can think of like this is that guy (name escapes me) who runs a tongue-in-cheek blog to get people to 'stop the unnecessary slaughter' of WoW critters.
Anyway, that's my thoughts!