Abstract
This paper presents an alternative perspective in which to view creative generation and the practice of game design. A design research methodology incorporates sketch-based creative practice and the discussion of two theoretical frameworks: database and absurdity. The absurd is a rebellious embrace of a chaotic world, while the database is a new media structure for collecting, thinking and producing. These frameworks are competing yet complementary concepts that allow for exploration and ordering. The creative practice described within embodies a database compulsion: the process of sketching many rough ideas instead of perfecting a single idea; the creation of a toolbox of general components, expressions and universal units; the creation of work that is non-linear, repetitive and/or random. Emerging from this structure, and yet rebelling from established order, is the notion of the absurd. Using Steve Hodges’ notion of the digital absurd, a playful, absurd sensibility is proposed with the following qualities: unconvention; frustration; purposelessness; repetition. The practice of sketching, coupled with the frameworks of absurdity and database, demonstrates a new media and interdisciplinary approach of playful ordering and re-ordering, re-classifying and reframing of game design and idea creation.
Highlights
The database is a technological manifestation of the human compulsion to collect; to possess; to know
By taking an experiential rather than goal-driven approach to game design, I hope to highlight areas that move beyond the boundaries of the status quo
Absurdity introduces a rebellious and boundary-pushing attitude into game design, which brings with it the chance to touch on very human experiences
Summary
The database is a technological manifestation of the human compulsion to collect; to possess; to know. It is a form of cultural and human collecting, as well as the ordering (and reordering) of items of significance. Leveraging the qualities of the database, one may proceed to generate ideas using a new media mindset. This mindset, which migrates away from conventional narrative and linear storytelling, presents an absurd attitude of repetition, frustration, purposelessness and 'unconvention'. Embracing an absurd attitude enables both designer and participant to challenge boundaries and assumptions, accept multiple meanings, and enjoy a playful purposelessness
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