# The forms of art media In some ways, the medium is not *that* important: - The medium will match what you feel most comfortable with, and each one has pros and cons. - Visual elements (e.g., paintings, drawings, diagrams) are easiest for people to consume. - [Writing](language-writing.md) permits complete flexibility with imagination and ideas. - Audio connects closest to subconscious feelings and thoughts. Performance arts make the entire experience interactive with the audience. - [Software](computers-software.md) (especially [games](computers-software-gamedev.md)) is the fullest form of audience involvement possible. - [Creating social systems](mgmt-1_why.md) permits *other* people to be creative. - Frequently, your talent in one medium can spill over to other media. Every medium has its own rules for quality: - Learn the medium's standards and limits. - Even experimental and [trend-setting](trends.md) works acknowledge the rules by intentionally defying them. - Art can be time-based, static, or immersive. - For static art (e.g., novels, films, music), focus on what occupies the center of attention. - For temporal art (e.g., painting, sculpture), direct all your efforts to magnifying the very last observed event. - For immersive art (e.g., architecture, game development), pay extremely close attention to the [user experience](engineering-design.md). The constraints of an art medium can create very complex aspects that feed into the entirety of the created work. ## Level 0 - Raw Experience This is the domain of nothing but the mind's raw inputs. Thought: raw experiences - A [feeling](mind-feelings.md) or sensation. - The raw primitive for basically anything. - Tends to combine with facts to create a more structured form. ## Level 1 - Raw Processing This is the domain of the mind's raw inputs, but processed within the mind as something more complete. - These things don't "exist" on the medium of the world around us, but they are required for us to process anything larger. Reasoning: a form of thought - Assembles a new thought based on at least two elements. - It revolves around some form of [certainty](understanding-certainty.md) to form that basis. - Can be [logical](logic.md) reasoning, or [emotional](mind-feelings.md) expression put to [language](language.md). Change: a depiction of movement - Expressing two states, one after the other - May be a [story](stories-why.md), but can also indicate two bits of [information](information.md) Rhythm: a depiction of familiarity - Expressing a recurring theme - Borrows straight from our heartbeat as an "absolute" ## Level 2 - Raw Expression This is a rudimentary form of media. - Anyone can effectively do this, though many people won't do it well. Inflection: a form of oral or written expression - Expressing certain sound variations of a word. - Built around evoking a particular feeling [common to other people](humanity-universals.md). Calligraphy: a form of visual expression - Expressing symbols on a surface - Can also be described as [creative writing](language-writing.md), but also includes artistic typography Performance: physical representation of an emotional state - Change + Thought - Demonstrates through reproduction of [recollected](mind-memory.md) experiences. Visual Capture: representing a visual state of the world - Capturing the world around us via visual expression - As an [image](people-image-why.md), has an inherent relativity mixed with an inherent absolute - Includes what people call "doodling" as well as photography Physical Structure: representing the physical existence of a thing - Thought + Reasoning - This broadly connects with [engineering](engineering.md) and [technology](technology.md). ## Level 3 - Complex Expression This is where the raw forms converge into clear domains of abstract demarcation. - At this point, only a select few people in any given discipline can work well with this media. ### 3A - Visual Capture Painting: visually expressing forms and changes within a flat visual medium - Visual Capture + Change - depicts a scene for the purpose of showing a story - The extra work creates extra domains of complexity and constraints. Sculpture: visually expressing forms and changes within a three-dimensional medium - Visual Capture + Change + Physical Structure - Similar to painting, but with the added domain of material and structural constraint Digital Art: visually expressing forms and changes within a computer screen-based medium - Visual Capture + Change - Similar to painting, but the change is highly magnified by comparison. - The domain of "[graphic design](engineering-graphics.md)" fits neatly into this domain. Crafts: the miscellaneous decorative elements that compose a presentation - Physical Structure + Change - A high-context depiction that frames other elements ### 3B - Story Capture Storytelling: expressing a flow of thoughts with a beginning, middle, and end - Reasoning + Change - Expressing a type of [human or anthropomorphized change](people-changes.md). Diction: a form of oral expression - Reasoning + Inflection - Choosing words to convey an idea with sentences Prose: a form of expressing a [story](stories-why.md) - Storytelling + Diction - Choosing sentences to build a sequence of concepts - can expand into fiction, nonfiction, novels, serials, epics, etc. Poetry: a structured means of expressing change - Calligraphy + Inflection + Rhythm - Typically constrained by a [patterned mechanism](symbols.md) to give more emphasis. ### 3C - Movement Dance: performing to evoke feelings - Performance + Physical Structure + Rhythm - The highest possible form of human engagement without using any external tool. Music: using rhythm to evoke change - Change + Rhythm - The most primal and powerful emotional force. ## Level 4 - Collaborative Expression This requires a [team](groups-small.md) to build. - Each contributor will invariably include their own elements that influence the final product. - Due to [budget constraints](money-3_budget.md), there's usually a more pronounced [influence](power-influence.md) from [marketing](marketing.md) interests. Animation: Paintings set to movement - Painting + Prose - The extra work means most animation takes shortcuts (e.g., photocopy, CGI), and those constraints heavily define the resulting product. ## Level 5 - Composite Expression At this point, just about everything is a mix-and-math of earlier primitives. Stage: precise capture of a story in real-time - Performance + Poetry + Music - Can range from 10 minutes to several hours of capturing an experience. Homemaking: using crafts and storytelling to deliver a visual aesthetic - Crafts + Storytelling - The ideal role for [women](gender.md) who are in touch with their [feelings](mind-feelings.md), though [feminism](politics-leftism.md) sabotages this domain. ## Level 6 - Recording of Collaborative/Composite Expression This one is the editing and framing that gives context to the lower-tier primitives. Film: precise capturing of Stage, set to a story - Visual Capture + Prose - The editing is where most of the art occurs, demonstrated through advanced awareness of second-by-second directing of attention. ## Level 7 - Audience/Creator Interaction Architecture: presenting a structure with the deep constraints of physical states - Physical Structure + Visual Capture - A highly advanced form of creation that serves a [utilitarian](purpose.md) mechanism alongside the aesthetic. Website/Software Design: presenting an advanced, ordered structure for the user to interact with - Digital Art + Change [Game Development](computers-software-gamedev.md): presenting a specific type of Software Design that focuses strictly on the user's [feelings](mind-feelings.md)