itch.io

Hi. Good manifesto! As small note:

I've noticed a distinct trend among these varied texts - a kind of desperate artistic nihilism which (however personally valid) often only appear to be about whatever the writer is discussing - and might in fact actually concern the fact that itch.io is utterly SHIT as a platform..

The amount of "Look just do what the hell you want because nobody's gonna even notice" type Manifestos is telling; yet perhaps they exist not as a general, rational response to the Artistic Void into which we all piss daily - but more simply because itch.io is a stinking Capitalist toilet into which artists have little choice but to pour their time and talent into - without glory, the chance for a decent living wage, or to catalyze vital interaction with the (mostly imaginary) society that's grown up on Itch's digital wasteland.

I guess what I'm saying is, let's not forget the Medium we're embedded in as workers.

Ok, sure - as you say, I will indeed continue making games nobody GAS about - but let's not be too harsh on ourselves as artists, considering the platform we're all working (slaving) on is taking the lion's share of the shiny coins we're producing. (There's a reason they call it ART-WORK!) #unionize #occupyitch #antiwork

Keep up the good fight

SIncerely, RW

some notes: this was pleasant enough to walk around in for ten minutes, yet ultimately one could not deny both the lo-fi texture induced headache.. and the dubious digital naivety on display.

while we netizens are entirely free to create our own alternative internet future history (and in doing so challenge accepted norms for what's possible) it's another, distinctly ideological thing entirely to suggest 'the internet' was once remotely like this.. was it though? this ain't johnny 'techbro' mnemonic, after all, complete with digital dolphins splashing through the dancing data. like ice t said - "just trash. get that outta here!"

(queue meme of that young woman gently taking her golden haired aunt back to their room to play their 'deliberately retro' gaming console - the aunt waxing wobbly and lyrical about myspace, aol cd's, webrings and bubblegum colored monitors, or whatever.)

such artistic contributions as yours, while much needed, nevertheless require keen, philosophical skepticism to prevent accidental deep-diving (/back into) what seems a very mainstream techno-romanticism. as a warped form of digital social mis-relationship, 'the net' doesn't appear something that can be fundamentally changed by merely harking back (or forward!) to the good old daze of cosy, small scale communities, fediverses, leet haxx0r cryptography or vhs-era 'this is unix - i know this!' #aesthetics. it / i.t just seems too.. dumb for that. i dunno.

i'd like to talk with you more about this, so feel free to contact me.

darkly laughable nonsense to avoid: 

[..] the mere notion that 'Money can be used to do good' rests entirely on the dubious anti-philosophical idea that 'doing good' needs a big bunch of (cosmically useless) 0's and 1's - rather than simple Human compassion.

*sighs* As I sit here alone here in this utterly miserable overpriced freezing shoebox flat with silverfish running over my toes and mold creeping up the window frames, I also understand that they(tm) sure make it difficult not to believe in such a ridiculous and delusional dream. "Man, if only I were rich.." - Yeah, and the rest of the (never completed) sentence is "Then I'd be even less of a decent, artistic human being than I am already."

Anyone else notice how fcuking boring Capitalism is?

There's also another fact to take into consideration - that most art made within a selfish and psychotically greedy Capitalist society is itself already 'the art of Capitalism' - ie. more brightly colored smoke n' mirrors to keep the Proles occupied. (That's probably why mainstream right wing media consumers get such engorged veins on their foreheads when protestors throw paint or soup on those beloved bits of painted canvas in their favorite Institutions Of Culture; the symbolic importance of such art as a marker of 'nice safe default Money-based reality' must be protected at all costs.)

In this sense, modern Art™ can be considered a mere marker of the forever changing same - no matter what's smeared on the (/digital) canvas, it's all still firmly within the wider, violently-controlled contextual frame of Capitalist Realism (as Mark Fisher famously put it.)

More thoughts on art & money later. "I love art - but there's no money in it.."

~ RW

Videogame screenshort art / Virtual Photography exhibit. 3937 images, 8.3GB, jpeg-xl format.

https://robert-what.itch.io/4k-videogame-screenshot-art-exhibit

Hello!

Hate to break this to you, but you're more likely to be struck by lightning than to realistically expect anyone on Itch to drop $50 big ones on a random art book by a random author, featuring honestly less than stellar cover art and described on Amazon as a 'exegetical transliteration that continues my prior discussion of literary and art history.'

I don't know what brought you here, but itch.io just isn't the sort of place for this kind of work; I wish it were! To a modern savvy sarcastic Internet audience (/with near zero Media Literacy) such projects smell like effortlessly Pretentious™ andor Academic Postmodern Nonsense and feel borderline self-parodying. My humble suggestions:

1. Give me a free review copy, and I'll give you an honest critique. (I love these sort of books! I'm working on a 2M word one myself.)

2. At the very least: provide a short PDF Sample on your project page.

Sincerely

Robert What, Philosopher Consultant For Hire

What's on 4th

Hello again. Your new book rocks. The writing is sometimes a little too minimal ;-) Keep up the odd work!

Sincerely, Robert What

Hello. Some great shots! Here are some of mine: https://robert-what.itch.io/videogame-screenshot-art

Can't believe this project is so old. Love the phrase 'lost cartographies'.

Good work.  More like this please!

Cool. I'm reminded of Techno by Ray Ogar: https://sites.google.com/view/ray-ogar/text/techno

Hi. Great article! In my time exploring the backroom lands of Noclip, I've also come across a few scenes with an odd feel:

These are from my Virtual Photography collection: https://robert-what.itch.io/alternative-videogame-screenshot-art-exhibit

While I wouldn't label them as exactly 'liminal', they are often 'off map' - hidden from ordinary gaming  view. Whether this is enough to say they form an #AESTHETIC is hard to say:

• https://umbrella-isle.itch.io/222am
• https://connor-sherlock.itch.io/sanctuary
• https://nonoise.itch.io/abyssalsomewhere
• https://amon26.itch.io/phobolis
• https://kittyhorrorshow.itch.io/anatomy
• https://sodaraptor.itch.io/hypnagogia-boundless-dreams

Cool zine.

I'm currently head of my own Republic. It might be nice to have a visiting dignitary. https://www.republicofbob.net/

A free exhibit of 4K videogame screenshot art via the screenshot Community, and my own Noclip virtual photography. Enjoy!

https://robert-what.itch.io/alternative-videogame-screenshot-art-exhibit

Hi. I'm Robert What, a philosopher and artist based in the UK. Like countless others, I work real hard for art - hence the phrase 'Art-(as)-Work' - yet get next to no views. And that sucks.

Your thoughtful words resonated with me. I've also written about this subject before:

republicofbob.net/getting-noticed-platform-capitalism-creator-economies-web3/

As you're probably aware, the problem is the very Internets itself - ie. the underlying (Capitalist) Social Relations determining its inherently unfair structure. As you correctly state, if an artist isn't already rich whiteTM male and cishet they can go twist in the stale digital wind of total obscurity.

As many artists suspect, we need a new, more collective, communal, socialistic Net. Itch isn't really helping them ORGANIZE! either - it's a desert, comprised of infinite, totally isolated / alienated cubes of artistic sand. (I only found your cool zine by chance after hours of dune surfing.)

If you like, we can chat about this stuff: robertwhat (at) proton (dot) me

Good luck with your artist journey. Hang on there!

Sincerely, Bob

Would love to experience this!

A 'social internet gamedev simulation', project STARLARP simply considers the modern fan community art and drama that swirls around AAA game development - the 'Scenius' - as the more interesting game being developed, and played. https://robert-what.itch.io/starlarp-the-biggest-game-never-made

Hi! Looking great, can't wait to play! My suggestion would be an Accessibility menu, with cheats such as No Fall Damage, Infinite Climb, Noclip (for Virtual Photography screenshots.) These would help players who dig the #aesthetic and love to explore, chill in a game's atmosphere - and are less interested in teh Real GamerTM 'git-gud' challenge *rolls eyes*. Signed, a Filthy Casual ;-)

In case of emergency - the entire Internet, in handy Offline form:

I brought it, and it's excellent. Highly recommended. Keep up the good work!

Hi, I'd love to buy your bundle, but I hate Paypal. Any chance of using Cards, or some other way of paying you?