Dishonored 2
Dishonored 2 on Display in New Museum Exhibit
Dishonored 2
It’s a question that’s been asked since the very first pixel bounced around on an ancient CRT screen: Are games art? While everyone from the players to the pundits will continue to debate the creative merits of virtual entertainment, one prominent museum is taking a definitive stance. Right now in Paris, the Art Ludique museum is hosting a new exhibit dedicated to French games. Titled The Art in Video Games – French Inspiration, the exhibit runs through March 6, 2016, and features more than 800 artworks and installations from an array of French studios.
That, of course, includes Arkane, the studio behind the Dishonored games. Widely celebrated for its artistry by both critics and the community, Dishonored (and its upcoming sequel) will be prominently featured, including a dedicated room full of previously unseen pre-production pieces.
From left to right: Lucie Minne (Artist), Guillaume Curt (Art Producer at Arkane), Romuald Capron (COO at Arkane), Jean-Luc Monnet (Lead Concept Artist), Sébastien Mitton (Art Director at Arkane)
For Sébastien Mitton, Art Director at Arkane, inclusion in this exhibit (alongside other prominent games including Assassin’s Creed Unity and Beyond: Two Souls) has been a huge honor. “When the curator of Art Ludique first mentioned this project to us, it sounded like a flash of genius,” Mitton says. “I’ve often thought our art pieces were not only good enough to help our games’ art direction, but they also deserved to be admired in an actual museum.”
Mitton tells us that he has a deep emotional connection to art in all its various forms, from classical to modern. In fact, one of Mitton’s initiatives at Arkane was to reintroduce traditional techniques to the concept art and overall direction of Dishonored.
Crafting the world of Dishonored was a challenge in itself, but Mitton faced another tough task when it came to paring down the pieces for display at Art Ludique. “The art team put so much love and energy in creating strong imagery,” he says. “So choosing the pieces was real tough for me!”
Among the Dishonored art on display: the very first pencil drawings from Laurent Gapaillard for the original Dishonored, some giant paintings by Piotr Jablonski and Sergei Kolesov, and a series of portraits drawn by Cedric Peyraverney.
“But the main attraction is the Portraits Room, where you’ll find our 1:1-scale clay faces for Dishonored 2,” Mitton says. “Those sculptures from Lucie Minne are a brand-new approach I’m trying for Dishonored 2. In between painting and 3D modeling, this extra step saves us time by helping us evaluate the models, the proportions, how the light reacts, the global style, and more.”
As for the other games on display, Mitton has enjoyed exploring the entire exhibit and seeing the artistry that comes from his peers throughout France. “It’s a wonderful showcase of all the amazing artists who are bringing together art and video games!”
For more about Dishonored, check out these Bethesda.net features:
Dishonored 2 – Who Is Emily Kaldwin
Dishonored 2 – Secrets from the Announce Trailer
