Andy’s Hat

What is in the hat? The answer is simple, a mind. But like many things the raw answer is not what is interesting. But the parts of the whole. and the story of the parts are much more interesting than the mind itself.

We live in the Future our grandparents imagined in their wildest dreams. Technology has boomed greater than I believe anyone could have imagined. This connection has enabled friendship to bloom in ways impossible only a couple of decades ago.

However I think the days of simple friendship have been lost. Folks treat friendships like capital. And race to have as many as they can. Forgetting the purpose and need of close relationships.

I remember the first time I saw a personal baseball game in person. No amount of watching it on TV could prepare me for the energy of the crowd. Baseball might have been the same game, but you would not know that.

My question then became how could I encourage that on a social basis.

So many are left out because they don’t fit in a social norm. Society has done a great job of making a single wave of communication the standard and the kind of people that look deeper than words are skipped over.

As such they spend an unhealthy amount of time alone. Sure, they might meet in the online and the internet is a great way to exchange information. But humans are not information alone. I feel by losing the physical side of community we have left a part of ourselves out. Not looking good.

However, I got an idea when I came across a specific game.

It was a multiplayer game but it could not be played over the internet. At first I thought that would be it’s downfall. Despite this the game flourished. Groups on the internet encouraged people to find groups to play it with.

This baffled me. But after I was invited to such a group my mind was changed and I knew this was part of the answer to building communities for a group of like minded people. Or part of it anyway, but hey it was a start!

I began to self examine. I have always had an artistic side and have done different mediums of art over the years as time has allowed. From movies to drawings and sketches, and simple programs.

I felt I had something I could offer to a small community. But I knew self-proclaiming myself an artist would not be enough because people have a wide view of art. I believe that science is as fundamental to art as vision.

William Shakespeare is not known for spewing nonsense. Don Felder for a love of hotels, or Leonardo da vinci for dinner. Art is about meaning, but meaning without context is gibberish. And while I won’t say I’m gifted and no one else gets it. I have a gut feeling I’m on to something.

My goal, the meaning of my work, is not so much to “make such a good game as if it would solve war and hunger.” No one person has the key to such things, nor do I believe a video game, or any one medium of art, could do that.

My goal is to build bonds in communities. For people to take the extra step in meeting physically with others, instead of taking the short route and jumping on the web. Not just in video games but for other things as well. And at the same time if I can help voice a positive light for art’s of all type I will feel encouraged. The arts might not solve world hunger but they have the power to help us connect with ourselves and each other, to encourage us, and to help us grow as people.

While there are a lot of things I like, here are a few things I enjoy. Snow, Star Trek, Steam Punk and any good reason to see an old friend.

– Zachary Rosch