Video Preview: UC Student's Art Video Game in 2-D and 3-D Challenges Perceptions

This video previews student Ben Tanzer's art/video game that switches between 2-D and 3-D.

Video gaming, theater, fine arts and philosophy come together in University of Cincinnati student Ben Tanzer’s multilayered senior project titled “Pin.”

Tanzer, 27, originally from Terrace Park, a suburb of Cincinnati, admits he was “born and raised by Super Nintendo.” He recalls, “Once when I was a kid, in an attempt to help Mario jump farther, I physically jumped so hard along with him that I ended up losing a tooth when I landed.”

Mix Tanzer’s technical and aesthetic training as a fine arts student in UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) along with his background in musical theater, and the result is this digital environment project – combining the action of a video game, the intricacy and detail of a work of art, and even philosophical ideas. (Collaborating with Tanzer on creating music for the project is UC College-Conservatory of Music student Rob Frank.)

In “Pin,” users/players manipulate a character, also named Pin, as he traverses a series of levels that switch between 2-D and 3-D, as well as switching between a first-person and third-person perspective. The first level is a cave setting, based on Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” while other moments reference Italian writer Italo Calvino’s novel, “Invisible Cities,” a work that explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by explorer Marco Polo.

States Tanzer, “The virtual environment evolves throughout the game. As it unfolds, Pin’s ability to see the world around him adapts. The game’s users will experience change with him.”

After displaying his project at

DAAPWorks

, Tanzer plans to make “Pin” available for free download on his own

Web site

.

Currently, only a placeholder graphic is on the site now.

• See more details on the April 22-26 DAAPWorks display in UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. DAAPWorks is free and open to the public.

• Apply to UC’s undergraduate fine arts program.