To play the 'Art Thief' demo you must be affiliated with a non-profit institution (university, college, museum, public library, or K-12 school) that has access to the ARTstor Digital Library.
OUR GAME: Art Thief Demo
Note: Please read the ReadMe.rtf file before playing the game. It contains valuable instructions.
DIALOG CLIPS: The main character is WK.
WBW: Well if it isn't Mister Kitsch. A very appropo name I must say, you always exude a particular blue collar stench. 'Kitsch' you should know refers to 'low' art that appeals to you American Idol or NASCAR watching Americans.
WK: Look "Bookworm" I don't have time for this, I've got a question--.
WBW: Watch your tone Kitsch. You should know I reported you to your supervisor—Mr. Harris—yesterday, you delinquent. I saw you turn your eye while a child touched the Picasso...
WK: Just because you volunteer as 'docent' to get you out of the retirement home doesn't mean jack.
WBW: I give up you ignorant twit. What's your question—make it fast?
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WK: Excuse me Ms, you better keep that kid'a yours on a tight leash.
MS: Well I never….
AS: She's the one who touches the art.
WK: I catch hell every time one of these little brats touches something.
MS: That may be—but there are NICER ways of asking—besides, my little Abigail would never ruin a painting, she loves art.
AS: Say I do touch a painting. What are you gonna do? Do you have a gun?
MS: Don't taunt the police officer Abigail.
AS: He's not a cop,
WK: No I don't have a gun.
AS: Do you have a tazer?
MS: Abigail!
WK: No.
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LL: Hi Mr. K! Woooaaahhh! I like that tie, is that silk?!
WK: It's rayon.
LL: Sounds expensive! Watch out, Brooks Brother comin thru!
WK: It's from Walmart.
LL: Could'a fooled me. You know I bought my dad a tie for Christmas last year, and father's day, and his birthday. We sell these Salvador Dali ties beneath the counter here. (whispers) I just steal some and give them to him (winks) but that's our little secret.
WK: This is why I didn't have kids.
LL: You're SUCH a grouch! You're like Debbie Downer.
WK: And you're a Chatty Cathy, on amphetamines.
LL: What's amphetamines?
WK: The opposite of Ritalin.
LL: You're funny. What can I getcha today hun?
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CONCEPT: Gamers will be able to control a middle-aged, balding, disgruntled museum guard. With the promise of financial gain from a black market connection, you must purloin paintings that most closely fit the taste of your 'client(s)' through connoisseurship in the world of art history. This game will acquaint the gamer unwittingly with the primary art movements spanning the 16th thru 21st centuries.
GAMEPLAY: 1st person mystery/stealth. Three modes: (1) daytime 'case-the-joint mode' where you must consult audio tapes, history books, wall labels and tap the brains of docents and curators for information to identify different periods and artists from history. Use this info to plan your theft. (2) The night heist. Avoid alarms, motion sensors and your arch enemy, the retired cop who patrols the museum at night. (3) Leisure mode where you can stroll through the galleries and enjoy the high life and contemplate some of the masterpieces of the occident.
ART DIRECTION: The color schematics are bland and dark, with the exception of the paintings and sculpture of the museum galleries. These hi-res surfaces will glimmer with the different palette nuances from the Renaissance to the Postmodern. The contrast between the largely monochromatic black and white narrative scenes and museum interiors with the bejewelled art will draw attention to the work, enhancing its importance for the gamer and cultivate interest.
While the narrative sequences will consist of high contrast, graphic-novel throwbacks (Sin City meets Max Pain), the museum itself will be the product of the art museum proliferation of the early 20th c. and modern curatorial practices. The gamer plays the role of the ubiquitous 'everyman,' an uneducated museum guard with a disdain for contemporary art and its affiliation with lofty philosophies, its negative critique of the middle class, the lacuna of artist and audience. In attempting to destroy the object of his behest, the gamer may learn a lesson in art appreciation, or at the very least, understand some of the ideas and concepts the drove/drive different movements.
We're splicing together a hodge-podge of artistic styles to create the look and feel of the game. The narrative sequences will be rendered in a film noir mystery pulp novel style: High contrast, B-movie language, chiaroscuro. The museum itself will have an Art Deco exterior, something that resembles a minitiarized art institute.
Conversely the main character, a white proletariot with who obstinately dislikes art, will be controlled by the gamer. The gamer, culled from our audience of High School, College and up, will likely start as an art skeptic. The character will be compelling to play because he is aligned with a countercultural activity (art thievery), and because the heist will stimulate sensations in the gamer related to the stealth genre in video games. Perhaps the main character will appreciate art in the narrative, or perhaps that will be merely the hope of our company (if we're sticking to the 'hidden agenda' philosophy in 'serious' games). Our character will be a mix of Bill from King of the Hill, Al Bundy, Homer Simpson, a guy from combover.com and any other photo I can find of a 45ish disgruntled male with pattern baldness.
The juxtaposition of the art skeptic and the art museum is not a new precedent. Fine artists (such as Fred Wilson) have explored the ontology of the museum guard before-though not in the same medium or manner. The buildup of the mystery in the gamer's quest to determine the correct painting to steal will hopefully culminate in an interest in the movements and styles of art history.
