CONCEPTUAL ART

CREATE YOUR OWN GAME

I. CLASS: 8
th
grade class 40 minutes.

II. TIME NEEDED: 7 Class periods (1 day for presentation and 6 work days)

III. ART HISTORICAL BACKGROUND RELATED TO LESSON:
Many people may not think about games as a form of art, but almost every game
imaginable includes elements and principles of art. Video games are an obvious form
of gaming where the hand of the artist is clearly seen. As a digital art form, video
game artists have to know how to draw the characters, the landscape, trees, buildings,
cars, and weapons often by hand drawing them using digital drawing Apps or even by
making physical drawings and scanning them into a computer. So game designer
have to understand the principles and elements of art and design to create video
games. And board games, card games, puzzles, table top games etc. all use elements
of art in some way too, whether it be images, game pieces, paint, or the construction
of a 3D object. Locally, there is 2-man artist group called SaBa, named after Sam
Sheffield and Barry Whittakera professor at the Art Department of the Universtiy
of Toledowho create makes games as a form of art. Instead of creating the artistic
elements within video games, such as characters and landscapes, they think of the
game itself as the piece of art. One game they created is called Mother Brain where
the game is powered by real vegetables and as the vegetables slowly decay over time,
so does the video game. The video decays by making a series of glitches until the
whole game is overtaken by a colorful garden of glitches. Last year another one of
their games was located at the Center for Visual Art (CVA) connected to the Toledo
Museum of Art (TMA), called Vasari MXII 3D, in which you play as an elderly lady
who has to bang a shopping cart into other shoppers until she eventually faces off
with Giorgio Vasari, a famous Italian painter and art historian. The way in which you
controlled the game was by wearing a helmet and headbanging to force the cart on
the screen forwards.
Games as an art form is a very recent, modern invention in the art world, even though
games have existed forever, but were never consider art, or created for arts sake until
today.

IV. SUBJECT: The point of this lesson is to conceive of and design their own game,
with a structure and rules, to be eventually played out. Students will be given a wide
variety of materials to accomplish this task. Suggestions are board games, card
games, marble games, table top games, puzzles, ball games, dancing/performance
games, etc.



V. EQUIPMENT / AV MATERIALS: PowerPoint presentation, Smart Board
projector, digital images of games, game art, and video clips of game art.

VI. SUPPLIES: paints, paper, cardstock, pencils, scissors, cardboard, string, marbles,
glue, Popsicle sticks, tape, crayons.

VII. OBJECTIVES:
Academic Skills: Students will learn about artists that use gaming as a form of art
Craftsmanship Skills: Students will be using a wide variety of materials to fashion a
physical object for which to play a game by. They will get a familiarity in working
with mixed media including 3D and 2D elements.
Cognitive Skills: Students with be able to conceive of an idea for a game that can be
played within the confines of a classroom. They will need a considerable amount of
conceptual planning time to think of and harsh out details to a game with rules and
structure to it. To accomplish this task student will have to think creativity to solve
problems and achieve a successfully working game.
Behavior/Social Skills: Develop a sense of respect when performing a peer-
assessment of their fellow students by playing their game and giving constructive
feedback

VIII. BENCHMARKS AND STANDARDS:
A. Ohio Benchmarks and Standards in the Visual Arts:
6PE: Identify professions that use artistic and problem-solving skills.
5PR: Collaborate to create a thematic work that combines visual art with other
arts disciplines.
5RE: Identify professions that use art and design, and explore the relationship
between art, technology and industry.
B. Benchmarks and Standards in Other Disciplines:
Mathematics:
- Measurement: Students will need to use rulers and sketches to plan out and
execute proportions for game boards, pieces, etc.
- Geometry and Spatial Sense: Students will need to think about the space in
which their game will be played and make it so that the space and geometry of
the piece go well together and are feasible for a classroom setting
Social Studies:
- History: Think about the use of game throughout history and the relative
recent phenomena of video games.
Science:
- Scientific inquiry: Students will need to use experimentation and creative
thinking skills to solve problems and construct a working piece of art that can
be played as a game.
English:
- Language Acquisition: Students will hear and use vocabulary words
including: graphics, landscape, digital, line, performance art, elements,
principles, composition.



IX. LEARNER OUTCOMES: Students will use have to conceptual how to create a
game with structure that can be played either individually or as a group. Students that
choose to work as a group need to use collaboration in testing out ideas for games by
playing their concept of a game with at least 1 other student. They will also have to
use visual imagery of some kind (either 2D or 3D) in order to accomplish the task of
creating a game as a work of art.

X. SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: There may be concerns regarding some of the
more active games that may require the use of a lot of movement e.g. in the case of a
ball game where a ball or other object must be thrown. Students need to consider
what types of games are appropriate for a classroom setting.

XI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE LESSON: Students who has a hard time thinking of a
new concept for a game will be given the option to take an already existing game and
altering it by e.g. designing a new board or layout for the game or game pieces. Also,
for students that arent interested in working with a partner, they can choose to work
solo on a game that is meant to be played by 1 individual.

XII. THEORIES/THEORISTS RELATED TO LESSON: Howard Garner and his
Multiple Intelligences theory is relevant because students are given a wide range of
choices to complete the task; from audio inspired games to purely visual, or linguistic
games, to kinesthetic games with a lot of physical movement, etc.

XIII. ACADEMIC LANGUAGE: The students will be hearing and learning art
vocabulary terms including: graphics, landscapes, digital art, performance art, and
composition. Non-art vocabulary to be aware of might include: elements and
principles as in principles of design.

XIV. PROCEDURE:

1. Introduction: The 1
st
class will begin with a quick test to see how many types of
art students can list. This will segway into a PowerPoint presentation on gaming
as a form of Art. The presentation will then explain the procedures and
expectations for the project.
A. Motivation Playing a game that Ive made, as an example, which will be
indicative of the kind of product Ill be expecting them to eventually make.
During the presentation, get a class discussion going about how many types of
art they can think of, and why or why not games should be considered part of
that list. Also during the presentation, a video clip of SaBas Game Art will
be shown so students see how gaming is slowly becoming a Fine Art.
http://www.samsheffield.com/
B. New and Reviewed Experiences Students should have familiarity with
cutting and drawing using rulers to get straight lines, which will be useful in
designing game board/pieces, cards, etc. New experiences will be working


with mixed media materials in combination to form a whole new type of art
a game.
2. Distribution of Materials and Implements: Helpers will be chosen to pass out
materials1 helper for each material.
3. Work Period: Students will be given 4 work days to complete assignment.
A. Day 1: Students will begin by sketching out ideas for their games.
B. Day 2: Begin testing out concepts for the games theyve come up with by
seeing how they will be played with other students.
C. Day 3: Students will continue to work out ideas by playing their games with
students.
D. Day 4: Students will work on the final design and construction of their games
E. Day 5: Students should finish up working on the construction of their games
F. Day 6: Let students play their games.
4. Clean Up: Each group will be responsible for collecting and cleaning up their
desks and storing their projects in
5. Teacher-pupil Appraisal of the Art Activity: During the activity I will be walking
around to check if each student is making progress, and at the end of each session
a quick formative assessment will be applied by asking review questions about art
vocabulary terms and concepts including art historical questions.

XV. EVALUATION OF STUDENT WORK: The students will be evaluated on
whether they completed all tasks of the assignment Created a physical game with
visuals, followed procedures in order to cooperate well with others, created clear rules
for the game.

Assessment of student ability
to complete art activity
Excellent Good Average Needs
improvement
Criteria 1 Demonstrates
planning before working on final
art piece e.g. creates sketches
10 9 8 7 6 or less
Criteria 2 Creates clear and
concise rules/structure to game
and how its to be played
10 9 8 7 6 or less
Criteria 3 Uses either 2D or 3D
visual elements in the game itself
10 9 8 7 6 or less
Criteria 4 Effort: took time to
develop idea & complete project.
(Didnt rush.) Good use of class
time.
10 9 8 7 6 or less
Criteria 5 Craftsmanship
Neat, clean & complete. Skillful
use of the art tools & media.
10 9 8 7 6 or less
Total: 50 X 2 = 100
(possible points)


Possible points: 100 100 91 points = A 90 - 80 points = B 79 70 points = C
69 60 points = D 59 0 points = F