Hollow Knight is Officially Art

I
think it’s time for a pop quiz.

First question.

What is this?

No, it’s a building.

Second question.

What is this?

That’s right. It’s the Australian Centre for Moving Images located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia.

Inside these walls is a large array of objects relating
to cinema, animation and video games. They’ve

got a replica of the Pursuit Special from
Mad Max. They’ve got old timey film cameras

and television sets. They’ve even got fucking
Mario Kart. And now, they have a display dedicated

entirely to Hollow Knight.

Of course, Hollow Knight has been a huge indie
success and it’s won plenty of awards, so

something like this isn’t really that big
of a surprise. But it’s still really cool

to see this game continue to get recognition
like this. What’s cool about this display

is that the museum was able to get their hands
on actual development documents and drawings

from Team Cherry.

Now a good chunk of what is on display here
is stuff we have already seen. Like these

screenshots. I swear I’ve seen these exact
same images about 1000 times by now. Some

of these are so old, they date back to before
Hollow Knight actually released when the Knight

with only 4 masks. These screenshots just
keep getting reused everywhere and it’s

kinda funny.

There are also some framed images of early
map designs for Hallownest. These were shown

off in an interview Team Cherry had with PC
Gamer. It seems like these drawings are what

Team Cherry had on hand to show off, and they
just ended up giving it to the ACMI. Who knows

what else is lying around the Team Cherry
office that deserves to be in a museum?

There are also some images of the Unity Asset
Browser, which Team Cherry would have used

during development as well as two images of
King’s Pass, one showing the black boxes

that are used for the floors and walls in
the game, and one with the finished art assets

on top. Finally, there’s a monitor that
appears to be playing the launch trailer for

Hollow Knight.

So yeah, nothing here really lights the world
on fire. But Team Cherry did give the museum

a few other things. Namely sketchbooks. Ari
Gibson would meet up with other artists at

coffee shops once a week and draw tons of
art that would later be used for designs in

the game. A few images from these sketchbooks
have surfaced through an interview Team Cherry

had with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, but the museum
has actually shared a few more images with

us on their website.

We got some new art for the Broken Vessel,
including a sketch of it resting in what appears

to be Greenpath. We can even see this area
depicted in an old video Team Cherry shared

on their Twitter, back when they still used
their Twitter that is. And from looking at

an early map, we can tell that the Broken
Vessel was originally located where the Hornet

1 fight is in the final game.

We also got this nice drawing of the White
Lady. We can see that over time her design

was changed so she is… bigger. It’s also
possible that this is what the White Lady

was supposed to look like before she rooted
herself into the ground. Like when she was

sitting in that chair in the White Palace.

There are also some early Crossroads drawings
including some of Myla, both before and after

getting infected. There are also some early
sketches of the promotional art that they

made for the Kickstarter, as well as some
sketches of Deepnest, including a few different

Nosk sketches. It seems like Nosk went through
a few iterations from its initial concept

to what we see in the final game. Good thing
Team Cherry refined it so much. And now it’s

the best boss in the game.

One of the more interesting pages shows off
what appear to be some new Abyss creatures.

We can see the Shade Beast here, who is rocking
that same dad bod that we see in the final

game. But we can also see this weird puppa
thing, and this thing that looks like a hopper,

and some other thing that looks like that
thing in the Silksong Demo. And there’s

also this, which I’m too scared to even
describe to you. We know that there were more

ideas for the Abyss, but Team Cherry left
a lot out of the final game. Hollow Knight

had to ship at some point. It’s not like
Silksong where Team Cherry has millions of

dollars. So if we still don’t get this puppa
in Silksong, I’m gonna be pissed.

On this page, we get a sketch of the Hollow
Knight. There are some basic ideas written

out here, like that the Hollow Knight has
its own mind as well as a bunch of questions

that would eventually make up the driving
mystery of the game. This page also mentions

AVCon, which helps us date this page to around
July of 2015. July 2015 is when Team Cherry

went to AVCon and let people try out the game
for the first time ever. After the convention,

they had a lot of changes to make based on
feedback. It’s interesting to think about

how far along the story and lore for the game
was developed at this point. We can at least

see that the concept of the Hollow Knight
as a character was very clearly defined at

this point.

We also get a single image of another sketchbook.
This one appears to be William Pellen’s.

It has more technical notes about how the
camera system would work in Hollow Knight.

There’s also a sketch of Leg Eater.

Overall, these drawings are really cool to
see. At least for someone like me who can’t

stop obsessing over this game. Unfortunately,
it seems like there’s still a lot of pages

we haven’t seen yet. I’m thinking we might
need to pull a National Treasure on this bitch.

If you want to check out all the available
images from the gallery, you can go to the

ACMI website and check them out. Otherwise
this video is kinda short, so I’m just gonna

ramble for a bit.

So now that Hollow Knight is in a museum,
does that mean it has truly turned into art?

Can video games even be considered art? That
was a question that came up a lot like 10

or 15 years ago. But nowadays, I feel like
everyone has kinda just agreed that they are.

Which makes sense. Part of the resistance
to the idea of games as art was how it was

seen as a waste of time and damaging to the
fabric of society. That is definitely not

the case anymore. Video games are mainstream
now. More and more people view video games

as more than just a mindless distraction.
And we’ve seen an influx of well known actors

appearing in games such as Kevin Spacey in
Call of Duty, Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077

and even Steven Seagul in Doom Eternal.

On top of that, we have seen games that push
heavy narratives and emotional stories. Big

games like The Last of Us: Part 2 are discussed
just as much for their story as their gameplay,

perhaps even moreso. These games try to be
incredibly cinematic as well. Like the amazing

Geralt bathtub scene in the Witcher 3. And
fuck, look at this guy eating bread in Yakuza

7. Like damn. And it’s not just the big
games. Even smaller indie platformers like

Celeste are bundled with stories that tackle
topics like depression and anxiety. And they

elicit strong emotional responses from a lot
of people. So we can see a definite trend

of video games trying to be more artistic.
But does this mean only games within the last

10 or so years can be considered art?

Of course that’s the thing about art. It’s
incredibly subjective. You could ask 100 different

people what makes something a piece of art
and get 100 different answers. Take the classic

NES game Super Mario Bros for example. The
lead designer on this game was Shigeru Miyamoto.

Surely the man responsible for so many amazing
games must view games as art, right? Well

no. In an interview with Glixel, Miyamoto
said the following:

I’m a designer. I don’t think of myself
as creating works, I really think of myself

as creating products for people to enjoy.
That’s why I’ve always called my games

products rather than works of art.

But despite Miyamoto seeing his games more
as products, that didn’t stop the young

people playing those games from developing
strong emotional bonds to them. Take Edward

Snowden for example. Most well known for his
cameo appearance in the long running anime

series Lupin the Third, Edward Snowden also
authored a memoir titled Permanent Record.

In this book, Snowden shared his experience
with the NES classic.

Ultimately, though, it was Super Mario Bros.
that taught me what remains perhaps the most

important lesson of my life. ...When the game
begins, Mario is standing all the way to the

left of the legendary opening screen, and
he can only go in one direction. ...Throughout

all thirty-two levels, Mario exists in front
of what in gaming parlance is called “an

invisible wall,” which doesn’t allow him
to go backward. There is no turning back,

only going forward—for Mario and Luigi,
for me, and for you.

Life only scrolls in one direction, which
is the direction of time, and no matter how

far we might manage to go, that invisible
wall will always be just behind us, cutting

us off from the past, compelling us on into
the unknown.

So is Super Mario Bros just simply a product
to entertain children or a deep allegory on

the nature of mortality, the frailty of humanity,
and the inevitability of death? And that’s

why I don’t think it’s useful to discuss
individual games when talking about games

as art. Sure, I may know that Garfield: Caught
in the Act is an artistic masterpiece, but

we don’t all have 6 hours for me to explain
it. It’s not that games coming out today

are objectively better pieces of art. It’s
that gaming as an artform as a whole has gained

legitimacy over the course of several decades.

This is a process that all new art mediums
go through. Take film for example. In the

early days of film, it was seen more as mere
entertainment. Of course, those working in

the medium wanted film to be viewed as art.
1927 saw the establishment of the Academy

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which
among other things, attempted to paint the

motion picture industry in a more favorable
light.

In the 1950s, competitive film festivals began
popping up. This whole idea of films being

compared to one another for how well they
are made, by people who had studied film critically

helped legitimize filmmaking as an art form.
And in the 1960s, courses in film study began

appearing in universities across the country.
The sixties also saw the rise of the French

concept of auteurism in the United States,
where films weren’t just made to reflect

the desires of the studios, but instead were
reflections of a single director’s artistic

vision.

So it wasn’t around until the 60s that films
were widely considered for their artistic

value, but we can look back at films like
Casablanca, Citizen Kane and King Kong which

are applauded today by film critics as great
works of art.

Switching back to video games, we can see
that it has been on a similar trajectory as

well. In 2004, the British Academy of Film
and Television Arts began giving awards to

video games. In 2012, the Smithsonian Museum
ran an exhibition on the Art of Video Games.

And in 2014, the Game Awards became a thing.
And now they are as hated by general audiences

as the Oscars are. Now that’s progress!

It has now become a really bad idea to bet
against the value of video games. Take for

example, Andrzej Sapkowski. Andrzej Sapkowski
is best known for authoring the fantasy novel

series, The Witcher. These books have garnered
a cult-like following in Eastern Europe and

have sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
But when Sapkowski gave CD Projekt Red the

rights to translate the Witcher series to
games, Sapkowski wanted no involvement in

writing the story. To him, games were stupid,
and completely incapable of providing the

kind of valuable storytelling found in literature.
He said the following in an interview with

Vice:

A video game serves a different purpose. It
works differently. How much substance can

there be in the lines of text when the hero
walks through the woods and talks to a squirrel?

Where's the literature in that? Where's the
room for depth or sophisticated language with

which games could elevate culture? There's
none.

Sapkowski had no faith in video games, and
when it came to negotiating the finances,

Sapkowski opted for an upfront payment instead
of a percentage of the profits. He was sure

CD Projekt Red would fail. Now, remember how
I said the books have sold over 15 million

copies? The Witcher games have sold over 50
million copies. In an interview with Eurogamer,

Sapkowski said the following:

I was stupid enough to sell them rights to
the whole bunch. They offered me a percentage

of their profits. I said, 'No, there will
be no profit at all - give me all my money

right now! The whole amount.' It was stupid.
I was stupid enough to leave everything in

their hands because I didn't believe in their
success. But who could foresee their success?

I couldn't.

And not only are these games selling extremely
well, but they have been praised for their

narratives and storytelling. George R. R.
Martin has caught onto this, and teamed up

with the developers behind Dark Souls, From
Software, to do the world building for the

upcoming game Elden Ring. Just think about
that. There are now world renowned authors

writing the lore for item descriptions in
video games. This can only lead to even more

people analyzing and discussing these games.

And that discussion is part of why I think
games are more commonly considered art now

than a few decades ago. Since those early
games, we have seen an artworld develop around

video games. An artworld is basically when
an ecosystem exists around a certain type

of art. If there weren’t people interested
in creating, studying, observing, purchasing

and discussing paintings or sculptures or
literature, they wouldn’t really be art

anymore, at least not the way we typically
view them.

In fact, the mere existence of something within
an art world can turn it into art. Like when

someone taped a banana to the wall at the
Art Basel in Miami, Florida. Since the Art

Basel itself and the people who run and visit
it are a part of an art world, this banana

itself became art to a lot of people simply
because it was placed there.

By that same token, it’s easier to argue
for the artistic value of any individual game

when the entire medium has been legitimized
as an art form, whether that’s Hollow Knight

or The Last of Us: Part 2 or Super Mario Bros.
or Mario Kart. So it really comes down to

time. I’m sure 50 years from now YouTube
and TikTok videos will be featured in museums

all around the world. And if you are watching
this video in a museum in the year 2070, well,

I just have one question for you.

Is Silksong out yet?