Subtextual Beauty: Minecraft Custom Builds

We've seen them. The grand castles, sprawling landscapes, fantastic caverns. What an awful example for what beauty is.

*Preparing self for backlash*

[Minecraft: from Fyre UK]

I am not above name drops for this post.

The most effective way for me to demonstrate my perspective -- my angle -- is to use actual examples. This castle construction above is considered to be a creation from one of the highest quality sources available. 

[Minecraft: from DarthEngima]

As for the above, I have never heard of this individual. I have no personal [negative] opinion of them leading into viewing their work, unlike the vast majority of content in the Minecraft scope. This image was shown to me as I was launching the game to play at my modest abode; a structure with a 3x3 block footprint.

[Minecraft: from yours truly]

The look of the forest from DarthEnigma captured my imagination and caused me to considered the idea that I am writing about now. Yet I still prefer my build, no matter how lame, simple, and uninspiring it is (I really do not care at all for the castle build so it will remain unmentioned through to the end of this post).

The simple point that I have noticed is the following; a beautiful build in Minecraft consists of large high detailed creations which mask the blocky simple aesthetic of the medium itself.

Referring back to early forum posts upon the release of the initial Minecraft experience, a room full of wooden blocks was interpreted by the builder to be a room of chests, containing valuable treasure. The magic of Minecraft was in the mind of the player where they were allowed to easily interpret and conclude what an object's meaning and physical form was. 

Using another example from an early forum post; what is this?

[Minecraft: again myself, top level builder]

A few wooden blocks? A floating raft? A simple boat? Perhaps a member in a fleet of pirate ships? When something is simple, it allows you to expand personally on what it means or is. When given a complex structure that removes this mask of mystery, the magic is lost, and you only have what you are given, which is the same experience as anyone else.

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Returning back (a few days later now also) to my simple build, the lack of any definite details allow the viewer to generate the details themselves. More often than not these created details are in the form of stories, and stories are powerful.

[Minecraft: behind my hut, a bed would not fit]

Take this hammock as an example. Perhaps the wooden post the head rest is connected too was once a mighty tree, whose sapling has now grown into the pillar of a tree now used as the foot support. Maybe the owner of the hammock spends their lazy summer afternoons, floating in the breeze after a successful day of fishing by the river. The lack of explicit detail creates an open canvas for powerful creativity. Looking back to my image subtitle, there is even a story within, with the fact that a bed would not even fit in the house!

This concept (of course!) transcends the building-scape of Minecraft to all aesthetics. The photo realism of the newest first person shooter vs the world of Limbo, is a fantastic video game example of stories from minimalism in aesthetic. 

[LIMBO]

With the idea of expanding of scope, I now leave you with a quote at the end of this article.

"The universe is made of stories, not of atoms"