Doomslangers at Allegra Viola Gallery

More Dungeons & Dragons in art! I was just pointed to this page for the Doomslangers exhibition at the Allegra Viola Gallery (showing right now in NYC).

This show is a spectacular grab bag: character illustrations, real-life magic items, conceptual art, humor, and some thoughtful academic pieces as well.

It brings to mind an obvious question: why should we care if some D&D stuff gets shown in an art gallery? Does that bring any benefit to us as gamers?

My take on it is this: as gamer, designers, and players, we're creating every day. That creativity doesn't belong in a bushel basket. It belongs out in the world where people can experience it. I'm not saying we should take our character sheets out of our notebooks and hang them on the wall. What I am saying is that D&D players are everybody: they're artists, parents, students, IT managers, salespeople, and politicians. If playing games enriches their life at all (and I think it's pretty obvious it does), then it's enriching these activities.

So I guess what I'm saying is that good games teach us to create, and there's no reason that creativity should be restricted to the game.

Discombobulated

I am very busy right now. With all the thinking and preparation around actually hanging my art in coffee shops and the like, it has been hard to focus on the dungeons, hence the lack of posts this week. And it's only going to get worse. There are a number of large writing assignments looming for October-November at work, not to mention continuing progress on The Purple Worm Graveyard. And then there's Go Play NW 2011 to think about. Also, I have more dungeon compilations from Nick to post! But I'm going to try and keep posting. After all, there are only a few months left in the year!

Holy Crap! Should I do an Art Show?

I have one of those "fake paper mug" ceramic coffee mugs with a plain white unglazed exterior. Being the doodler I am, I wasn't able to resist the pristine surface, so I doodled all over it. Anyway, to make a long story short, one of the managers at my local cafe saw it and told me that she'd be willing to hang my art in the cafe!

So I'm all in a tizzy now. My stomach feels funny. What do I bring? How do I present it? Maybe I'm not ready for a coffee shop show. Are microdungeons too inaccessible to the non-gaming crowd?