Talking about making.

Talking about what certain elements in the game may represent -like I did at the end of the previous post– feels uncomfortable. Usually I don’t ever think about this, let alone attempt to express it in words. Representations in our games are far more open-ended for me than my words may imply. It’s not like I have an idea and then try to express it. It’s probably more often the other way around: I’m struck by what an image, a sound, a gesture does to me and I keep it, and collect some and remove others until a sort of story appears that feels consistent.

One of the things that draws me to this medium as an artist, is exactly its capacity for multiple meanings, depending on who’s playing. I am curious how other people see the things I put in the game. I have no expectations.

But I do realize that some people may have trouble making any sense at all of our work. In such cases of course it’s better if I give a few hints as to how I see it. Then at least they get something out of it -hopefully something they find interesting.

Still I find it difficult. I’m so used to silently trusting my emotions that I really need to force myself to express in words how my work makes sense to me. And the words always sound so limited, so inadequate and far too definite.

But it’s not because I can’t express its meaning properly or that I might even say things that are completely wrong, that our work would be in any way obscure. All of our work is completely clear to me. In fact, it’s more clear than anything I could ever say in words. There is no room for the absurd or the weird: everything in our work makes perfect sense to me, more sense than anything anywhere. This is probably the main reason why I make this stuff: to try and make sense of things.