Towards Engine Art: Openings and Closures in Game Engine Culture

In this chapter, we identify some of the key trends that situate engine art in the broader history of game art and contemporary media arts. We explore some of the ways in which artists engaging with video games and gaming technologies have approached these texts and tools, examining the different gestures, questions and concerns involved. These approaches have changed in response to transformations in the technological landscapes in which artists operate and the ideologies associated with available technologies. From such a perspective, we speculate that we are now seeing a passage from game art to engine art. We define engine art as any artistic intervention which engages with the technological affordances and limitations of game engines, and the values and meanings associated with these technologies.