It's not easy. My answer isn't clear cut. It's in a muddy place, possibly logically and also psychologically and socially. But this is me having that discussion (with at least myself), and asking for input, should anyone wish to give it.
1. They're from a video game. And that game has a meaning all its own. And it carries a morally good message.
This is the muddiest part.
Video games, along with many other social activities (especially those tied to newer technology), are being studied even more deeply to understand their impact on the mind. But taking it from experience and from some great research that's already been done, when we skip past the false argument of "video games make people violent" and move on to better discussions, the merits are easy to find. They can be used for training, therapy and just common, everyday relaxation and stress relief. I'm not interested in any false narrative, I'm interested in how helpful even an impossible or fantastical simulation can be to an individual.
And importantly, the paintings I'm talking about are of things in Destiny, a game about saving the world from the dregs (literally) of the galaxy in order to uplift and protect the people we hold dear.
If that doesn't count for something, I don't know what does. It's not about shooting other people (especially not just people of color, which is a too-prevalent issue in video games)- it's about shooting invading monsters who bring only death, which is the best way we have to code and accept acts of violence (though you know, I'd like to meet some friendly aliens, too, even in Destiny).
2. Art helps people.
I'm not a doctor, but one time someone stole a painting of a skull from me. It wasn't even finished. He was a friend of a friend of my roommate (I think) and crashed at a house party we hosted. Even after successfully agreeing to purchase it for the low price of $40 USD (which he agreed to pay the next morning after the party), he slipped off with it in the middle of the night.
So I've experienced first hand how art can help people with something. I have other examples. I've sold a few dozen works in the past 20 years. My favorite reaction so far was an almost running hug, launched at me my CTO at my last job when I presented a very personally themed painting of the "Lucky Cat" to her. And have you seen that one episode of The Office where Michael buys Pam's illustration?
Art makes people feel things, and it helps us with expressions of our feelings, which are sometimes hobbled by words alone, or even sometimes by actions.
These weapon paintings from Destiny might remind some people of violence, but I know for a fact that they will remind people of a great, positive experiences too. I think the one outweighs the other. In fact, I know it, because they remind me of that, because I've had those experiences. With friends, family, teammates and with a huge body of people on social networks and in shared game worlds.
Saliently, it is also worth mentioning that Destiny is an online game that specifically encourages (and sometimes requires) large works of collaboration amongst player, while presenting some of the most complex gaming challenges I have ever experienced- and I've been playing video games for over 25 years.
3. The creative process is necessary for me, and right now, it includes these guns.
For real though, hey everybody? I am going through some shit. My life isn't the hardest one on the planet, it's rather far from that, really, if there was a ranking... But comparison is a thief and I will not reduce my own situation or deny my own experience or emotions. And right now my experiences are challenging me.
Sometimes, during the hardest moments, I kind of wish I had a magic gun or a magic wand or a magic axe that could solve my problems... Like the ones I have in my favorite video game, where I am a totally in control person who wields god-like powers and cannot die.
That "net good" thing above? It includes these pieces being something that I need to do for me, so I'm doing them. Full stop.
I need to test myself as an artist. And importantly, I need to take the ideas in my head out and make them real in the world. I want to make my ideas into real things on paper (in this case, canvas). I need that to happen. Right now, the ideas in my head include stark, painterly renditions of profiles of tools of violence from video games about violence. That's just what it is.
These particular designs are weapons that I like to use in the game. There are qualities that match a gameplay style that I've honed over years. That is only even available thanks to the creative collaborative processes and creative people that spawn them (say that three times fast). There are a dozen books on how and why video games are made and even before I read any of them, I was convinced that games are art, through and through. From the design to the code to the rendering, each piece is a kind of chaotic and perfectly timed dance that makes expression come alive in a way that humans only in our living generations have ever experienced.
Art is special. Video games are art. Video games are incredibly special art.
