Color, Line and Form at SAAM Arcade
By: Lauren Kolodkin
Colors for a Large Wall, Ellsworth Kelly, 1951
In 1951, the American painter Ellsworth Kelly created a series of studies—predominantly paintings and collages—centered around the concepts of line, form, and color. He proposed that these studies be compiled into a book and published, that the works within comprised “an alphabet of lines, forms, values and colors” that made up the most basic elements of art. The idea of an art alphabet wasn’t new in the mid-twentieth century, but Kelly and his fellow minimalists expanded on the idea that certain aspects of an artwork were essential and some were unnecessary, chaff that could be removed to reveal a more honest, objective work.
Whether or not you agree with the Minimalists, it’s an interesting way to approach a work of art. What makes something art, or craft, or design? A painting has essential visual elements that add up to be more than the sum of its parts, but it also has a medium (oil, acrylic, gouache) and a support (canvas, wood, masonite). Are those a part of the alphabet? It’s tempting to say no, they’re not. But as we explore more complex ways of making art, the boundaries between the physical aspects of an artwork and its visual language grow thin. An essential piece of performance art can be the artist themselves performing; an essential piece of video art can be the screen on which it’s shown.
When we talk about video games, we’re obligated to think about a much larger set of basic elements—line, color, and form are present alongside code, interaction, and parameters. Without diving into the inscrutable world of ludology, what can an average person expect to find if they boil down a video game into its most basic forms? Code, certainly. Color, perhaps. But what about fun? Games like That Dragon, Cancer and Gone Home (and if you’re not into self-punishment, any Dark Souls title) would suggest otherwise. What about invoking an emotional response? I’d say that anyone who has ever mindlessly played Candy Crush or Tetris while they watched TV or rode the subway would disagree.
It’s important to take the opportunity to step back and think about the parts instead of the whole. Part of the appeal of minimalism—of any abstraction, really—is that you’re forced to really consider what you see, to take time to dig into what the artist or maker or designer is trying to show you. A game like Pong seems quintessentially minimal, but we also recognize in its mechanics and visuals something familiar and comforting: ping pong. Even a massively complex triple-A title like Call of Duty or a constantly-evolving MMORPG like World of Warcraft are made up of those same basic elements, the same skeletal structure beneath the final product (elaborate or otherwise). If we accept that video game design is an artistic medium just like painting or sculpture, then it follows that new terms may need to be added to our artistic alphabet—but I think those terms are definitely up for debate.
SAAM Arcade 2022: Color, Line, and Form takes place on July 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. A concurrent SAAM Arcade Game Jam will be hosted online at AmericanArt.itch.io. This program is sponsored by Events DC. For more information about SAAM Arcade, please visit AmericanArt.si.edu/arcade.
Lauren Kolodkin is the SAAM Arcade Coordinator for the Smithsonian American Art Museum.