The interactive music introduced by Verses takes a form similar to computer games. Just like in a game, users enter the virtual space through their avatars and freely explore the world. During this process, users experience various scenarios unfolding in the virtual space, engage with numerous objects, missions, and events, and actively participate in driving the narrative. Through this experience, interactive music moves users from being mere listeners to active creators of music.
The Medium for Exploring the Aesthetics of Interactive Music: Computer Games
Interactive music, as a new form of music experience, defines and suggests a new aesthetic for how we experience music. To explore the aesthetics of interactive music, it is helpful to also consider the aesthetics of computer games. Both mediums share a multisensory experience where sound, visuals, story, and motion influence one another. Additionally, users engage actively in the narrative by becoming characters within the virtual space.
While interactive music suggests an innovative way of experiencing music, its form is rooted in computer games. As this field is still emerging, there is limited direct research on it. Therefore, examining the aesthetic theories of computer games, with their similar medium characteristics, can greatly aid in understanding the aesthetics of interactive music.
What is Aesthetics? Understanding Media Aesthetics
Before exploring the aesthetics of interactive music through computer games, let’s define the concept of aesthetics. Generally, aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that deals with 'beauty' and 'art', studying how humans create and perceive aesthetic and artistic objects. However, when discussing the aesthetics of computer games, we refer to 'media aesthetics' as a specific subfield.
Media aesthetics focuses not on philosophical reflections of how humans enjoy beauty or make aesthetic judgments, but on the medium through which art is conveyed. Here, the medium is not just a tool for transmitting a message but plays a crucial role in shaping the message itself. Thus, the characteristics of the medium, rather than its content, are emphasized as a vital process that influences human consciousness and thought.
Example of Media Aesthetics: Television
Let’s consider the aesthetics of the television medium. Media aesthetics asks, "What are the characteristics of television that make it so engaging?" The process of answering this question is the exploration of television’s media aesthetics.
There are various possible answers. First, unlike older media like radio, newspapers, or books, television enhances 'familiarity' by using both visual and auditory elements. Watching moving images and hearing sound on screen is much closer to how we experience the world compared to reading a text-only book.
Second, television has a sense of 'continuity.' After one program ends, an advertisement follows, and another program continues. As long as the TV is on, the content flows continuously, encouraging viewers to stay engaged.
In summary, the media aesthetics of television can be described with two aesthetic elements: 'familiarity' and 'continuity.'
Computer Games: More than Just Entertainment, a Medium with Artistic and Cultural Value
Computer games are gaining recognition as a medium with significant artistic and cultural value. This phenomenon can be seen in the theories and research dedicated to game aesthetics. Games, due to their immersive nature, have often been criticized and socially condemned for potentially leading to addiction. However, as a medium providing a level of immersion that previous media could not offer, it is essential to reflect deeply on the implications of this medium.
As a multisensory medium that achieves high immersion, computer games hold meaning beyond mere entertainment. Jeon Kyung-ran, a senior researcher at Ewha Womans University, argues that computer games are being re-recognized as having artistic and cultural value. If computer games are a long-standing hobby of yours, try explaining to skeptics that games are not just entertainment, but activities with important artistic value, and that you actively participate in them.
The Aesthetics of Computer Games Can Be Summed Up in Five Elements
Having explored the concept of media aesthetics in interactive music and computer games, and briefly analyzed the media aesthetics of television, the next installment of this series will summarize the aesthetics of computer games into five key elements: multisensory experience, spatiality, process, individuality, and sense of control. These concepts may initially seem difficult and vague, but as we explore them further, they will reveal fascinating insights. Based on these concepts of game aesthetics, we will also examine key terms that can represent the aesthetics of interactive music.
