in a moment of rare positivity on this blog i wanted to draw attention to what i do think is a sign of a healthy collaborative environment across genres
SIGNALIS is one of the best offerings ive ever seen to come out of the really small time indie scene. i saw it go from 0-60 over social media when it was few animated frames of what was best describable as a very impressive tech demo or art target render
it was extremely validating to see the obvious quality & care put into this be rapidly elevated by an audience that was finitely dialed in to enjoy it exactly for what it was. the fan art, the spectacular reception on launch later followed by outstanding recognition and numerous awards.
similarly; HEALTH has had a rather subtle and then not-so-subtle cultural footprint meet with commercial success. (thanks in part, no doubt to a few break-in moments getting to collaborate with Rockstar; a rare example of an Industrial Institution bringing us meaningful artistic curation with massive payoffs for games as a whole) alongside occasionally collaborating with known or up-and-coming trans artists in the music scene.
their trajectory has, likewise, been really satisfying to watch given both artists proclivities for tastemaking composition. they've gone from nobodies to somebodies and in a way that doesn't feel at all superficial or like either one has sold out- HEALTH has had some substantial success and yet they meet their audience as they are. the artists behind SIGNALIS have gone out of their way to remain grateful to the audience & maintain their own integrity. these are simply, two artistic groups who will not simply just Involve Themselves for the sake of it.
to my critical eye, this is a remarkable and sensible pairing of two magnificent groups / projects on in some ways parallel trajectories. HEALTH has introduced even wider audiences to SIGNALIS; and likewise no doubt the exchange has gone both ways.
Indie musicians 🤝 Indie Game Artists coming together in the most beautiful, organic way possible and lifting each other up. to me, this is what the collective efforts should aspire to as a high standard of what's possible and should be encouraged as often as possible.
you do not need major platforms or publishing houses (as places like Devolver or Annapurna were thought to, and probably did/do sometimes manifest) to bring together incredible complimentary talent. It can be done in-house, face-to-face, in a human way where artistic intent sees another as an equal and comes together for mutual enrichment.
we have bandcamp for discovery, we have itch.io, it is so defacto obvious that this is the natural course for two demographics struggling to maintain relevance that they are stronger together and naturally inspire one another.
HEALTH & SIGNALIS aren't two shining examples of auteurial intent or profound unique genius, they're examples of what happens when a scene is allowed to thrive & inspire those within it and crest like gorgeous waves from a greater body of the ocean that feeds that moment. we're truly blessed & privileged to bear witness to such cosmic energies coming together, and we should be thinking about what happens when we do similar cross-overs with queer indie comics, zines, musicians, film-makers, game-makers, novelists and so forth, how we could join ourselves as a greater symphony that cynical capitalism could never hope to artificially reproduce or even imitate.