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- 1. Are Video Games Art? or What Makes Art, Art?
- 4. What Makes Art into Art? It communicates a form of expression tells a story Line, form, shape Aesthetics
- 5. So Can Videogames Be Art?
- 7. Art Museum For Games What would go in and why?
- 9. References References Americanart.si.edu,. (2015). Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2015, from http://americanart.si.edu/ Bateman, C. (2015). Implicit Game Aesthetics (1st ed.). SAGE Publications. Bogost, I. (2015). About Me. Bogost.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://bogost.com/uncategorized/about-me/ Bratkoski, T. (2010). APPLYING DEWEY'S AESTHETICS TO VIDEO GAMES: An Experience of "Rock Band" (1st ed.). Penn State University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41200919 Call of Duty,. (2015). Call of Duty®: Black Ops 3. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from https://www.callofduty.com/au/en/ Duchamp-class2.wikispaces.com,. (2015). MLA11-12duchamp3 - Duchamp's Influence on Modern Art. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://duchamp-class2.wikispaces.com/Duchamp%27s+Influence+on+Modern+Art
- 10. References References Dutton, D. (2015). Denis Dutton: "The Art Instinct" | Talks at Google. YouTube. Retrieved 13 October 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Di86RqDL4&feature=youtu.be&t=1287 Dutton, D. (2015). Tolstoy's What Is Art?. Denisdutton.com. Retrieved 14 October 2015, from http://denisdutton.com/tolstoy.htm Fan, E. (2012). Part of Me: On the Smithsonian’s Art of Video Games | TriplePoint PR Blog.Blog.triplepointpr.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://blog.triplepointpr.com/part-of-me-on-the-smithsonians-art-of-video-games Kirkpatrick, G. (2007). BETWEEN ART AND GAMENESS: CRITICAL THEORY AND COMPUTER GAME AESTHETICS (1st ed.). (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore): SAGE Publications. Metmuseum.org,. (2015). Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/duch/hd_duch.htm
- 11. References References Newscientist.com,. (2015). CultureLab: Can video games be art?. Retrieved 14 October 2015, from https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2010/09/can-video-games-be-art.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news Nga.gov.au,. (2015). Robert Rauschenberg 1967–1978. Retrieved 14 October 2015, from http://nga.gov.au/Rauschenberg/ Stuart, K. (2014). Video games and art: why does the media get it so wrong?. the Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2014/jan/08/video-games-art-and-the-shock-of-the-new Tate,. (2015). Marcel Duchamp, 'Fountain' 1917, replica 1964. Retrieved 14 October 2015, from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573/text-summary The Art Story,. (2015). Marcel Duchamp Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-duchamp-marcel.htm
- 12. References References The Art Story,. (2015). Robert Rauschenberg Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works. Retrieved 14 October 2015, from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rauschenberg-robert.htm Zeldainformer.com,. (2015). “The Art of Video Games” and Nintendo at the Smithsonian. Retrieved 15 October 2015, from http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/the-art-of-video-games-and-nintendo-at-the-smithsonian
Editor's Notes
- I have asked this question of quite a number of people, with a wide variety of answers. In fact, this is a conversation that simply will not go away. i have heard arguments for and against it for the better part of my life. ever since my childhood fascination with video games evolved into a more enduring appreciation, and interest, I have heard debates and discussions, criticisms and praise, but no one seems able to agree as to where video games fit in an aesthetic pallette. One recent comment stated that videogames are not art, because they lack the defining aesthetics of line and form, shape and texture… I'm afraid I completely disagree with this statement… Not because I disagree with his opinion, but because I think his argument is invalid. It does not consider the different forms of art.
- aesthetics, the philosophical study of art and beauty is not only about color and form, or lines. If it were, how could the writing of Jane Austen be called art? It is not admired for her calligraphy, but for her prose and word play, for the narrative and the way she brings her characters to life, writing the character and personalities of people she knew, into the characters in her stories. It is beautiful, and clever, but it is a completely different form of beauty to that of the mona lisa. comparing the mona lisa to jane austen's pride and prejudice, is like trying to draw a comparison between chess and soccer. both chess and soccer are certainly games. Both (apparently) are sports, both involve an element of strategy, but about there the similarities end.They are both games, but completely different approaches to creating a game have been employed in their design. comparisons in this sort of context have no meaning… In the same way, Pride and Prejudice seems to have very little in common with the Mona Lisa... However one thing that both the celebrated works of Jane Austen, and those of Leonardo Da Vinci have in common, is that they are done well. Both are works of great skill, requiring the artist to give all of themselves to the work. Both require time and energy, serious contemplation and creative intelligence. Is this then, what sets art apart as art? Dennis Dutton, a well known author and professor of aesthetics and art, in his Darwinian theory of the evolution of art, theorizes that art originally stems from mans appreciation for skill. We appreciate the time and care that goes into the creation of great works of art, and the talent of the creator. When he travelled to papua new guinea to compare the art evaluations by traditional new guinea sculptors with that of european and australian artists in the same field, he found that they evaluated what made a good sculpture good, along very similar lines. Despite being from completely different cultural backgrounds and in many cases the artists, having never had previous contact with the other culture, yet they evaluated their art in very similar ways. This is not to say that culture has no effect on art, but it certainly suggest that ones culture does not limit or define ones art or appreciation for art. Dennis suggests that true art crosses cultural boundaries and can be appreciated by people and cultures all across the world. He suggests that it is a part of the human condition, that we appreciate art for the effort involved in creating it, and the expertise required to create it to a high standard. This certainly explains the value difference between an amatuer artists work, or even a childs painting, and that of, for example van Gogh. It also explains why we can appreciate beautiful art work from other cultures, even without fully understanding it. Though perhaps it is true the more we understand its origins and creative process, and the culture of the artist, the deeper our appreciation for the art becomes. Art is certainly influenced by culture, but it also creates its own culture and is influential to other cultures.
- Lets compare some modern media arts. Is taken 3, art in the way the shining is art? no of course not. while it may do very well as an action movie for those who enjoy watching liam neeson beat up on russian mobsters, it cannot compare to the aesthetic delivery of the shining. The intense camera shots that pan slow motion through the corridors of the set, the atmosphere dramatically intensifying as the axe comes through the door followed by the famous phrase, “here's johnny!!” The dull tones and contrast of the rest of the set, in comparison to the white door(perhaps symbolizing safety, or security?) in that famous scene, with the broken sections framing Jack Nicholsons face after the axe shatters that illusion of safety… There seems to be very little the two movies have in common. Does this mean that Taken 3 is not art? They both have a narrative, it is true, though perhaps we could question the quality of the narrative… after all, the different cod games also have a narrative, does this make them art? It is true there is an interactive element in games, but doesn't all art have an interactive element?
- Marcel Duchamp, considered by many to be the father of conceptual art, believed that art is not about what something is, as much as it is about how something is perceived. A famous work of his titled the fountain, proves him correct in this. It is, to put it simply, a urinal. He has signed it, R.Mutt, 1917, and laid it on its back for exhibition purposes, but it is still in effect, a urinal. It is also considered to be a deep and meaningful statement on art and creative freedom. The art here is not about what it is, or even really what it means. It is about how it is perceived by those who view it as art, and what it means to each of them. He is not the only artist who felt that art is validated by its audience, Robert Rauchenberg, and american painter very influential for his work in the 1950’s and 60’s felt that his art only had meaning once the audience viewed, or interpreted it. without the audience's interaction the art was not art to the artist.
- Nick Montfort, Associate professor of digital media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology People tend to mean several things by this question. First, can video games be sold by art dealers, appear in galleries and museums and be an accepted part of the art world? They already are: just look at the creations of Cory Archangel, Mark Essen and Eddo Stern. Second, can video games tackle difficult issues and sensitively present us with different perspectives? They already have: see the work of Terry Cavanaugh, Jason Rohrer, Molleindustria and Tale of Tales, and commercial games such as Bully (also called Canis Canem Edit) and Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit). Finally, can video games present an experience of aesthetic beauty that is particular to the medium? Indeed they do: see Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Rez, a game dedicated to Kandinsky and which I first discovered and played in the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York. It's a great time for those interested in this question to see what work is already out there Now thats his opinion, but not everyone agrees with him. Art critics have been arguing this back and forth for the last 40 years or so. And in that perhaps is the beginning of the answer. I am going to refer again to Dennis Duttons darwinian theory of art. In a talk at Google HQ he asked and then answered the following question what are the universal characteristics of art, such as we identify them and use them as a basis for a systematic cross cultural aesthetics? He goes on to list ## points, or aesthetics that he believes all art has in common. I would like to draw a comparison between whatv he defines as the central or core aesthetics of all art, and what is commonly accepted as the core aesthetics of game design. in the early 2000’s Robin hunicke, Marc leblanc and Robert Zubek collaboratively released an article titled Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics: a formal approach to game design and game research. In 2012, Extra Credits, (a series of shows available online presented by games designer James Portnow, animator and narrator Daniel floyd, and artists allison theus, elisa scalda ferri, scott dewitt and dan jones.) presented a lesson titled aesthetics of play, redefining genres in gaming, and in reference to this article lists 8 core aesthetics of game design. Now the way the word aesthetic is used in each of these talks is very different, but the reason I make the comparison, is that the aesthetics that Denis Dutton refers too and the aesthetics that are explained in the article MDA, definitely have a lot in common. In fact, some of the are exactly the same. It is also important to this discussion to note that due to the nature of games, the designers must approach it from an entirely different direction from that of the player. Games are built from mechanics, through to aesthetics, so the first thing that a designer must tackle is how the mechanics of a game work. The interaction between the mechanics is what creates the dynamics, which then come together to form the aesthetics. Players typically experience only the finished work, they approach games from the aesthetic angle. (But is this any different to the way a painter or sculptor views their work before the public sees it? It certainly has no special value in and of itself until it is given meaning by the artist, and in the opinions of several famous artists still has no meaning until it is viewed and given meaning by those who appreciate it for its aesthetic value.)
- Now, my understanding is that art is defined, as much as that is possible, by the study of aesthetics, but aesthetics means so many different things, that it seems impossible to define art. Dennis Dutton believes that the problem here is that we are trying to define art by giving etremem or borderline cases a definite cutoff point, rather than view art from fundamentals. This is where his list comes in. As he states it, Works of art provide people all over the world, and everywhere with direct pleasure. A pleasure in and of itself, simply from experiencing the art. One of the core mechanics of game design, defined in the mda article, that is too say, an aesthetic that games are designed to provide, or stimulate or communicate, is the aesthetic of sense pleasure. Works of art tend to be made in styles, ranging from highly naturalistic to as far in the other direction as possible, but style is very important in art. Works of art tend to have expressive individuality, or in other words, they give the sense that there is someone behind the art, almost as if you can feel the personality of the art itself or of the artist within the art. Works of art are characterized by creativity and novelty. Works of art tend to be surrounded by an atmosphere of criticism, now this brings me back to my earlier point. The fact that we are even discussing the idea of video games being art, suggests that they are. In fact, Ian Bogost, a games designer and critic, in response to the question are video games art? said The 20th century saw the following celebrated as art: a urinal placed on a stand, a painting of a coloured square, poetry made of words taken randomly from a hat, an audience cutting the clothes off an artist, industrial paint thrown onto canvas, reproductions of commercial advertisements, a telegram asserting that it was a portrait of its recipient, a barricade of oil barrels on a Paris street and live television images of a Buddha statue. Lest we conclude that these are outlandish examples, consider the artists who produced them: Marcel Duchamp, Piet Mondrian, Tristan Tzara, Yoko Ono, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Nam June Paik, respectively. All are celebrated, their status as artists never questioned. Art has done many things in human history, but in the last century it has primarily tried to provoke us, to force us to see things differently. So maybe we should ask, "How are video games changing our ideas about art?" If the purpose of art is indeed to force us to see something we thought we understood in a new light, perhaps the most fundamental move video games have made in the artistic tradition is in the very eliciting of the question, "Can video games be art?" Ian Bogost, Game designer, critic, founding partner of Persuasive Games and author ofNewsgames (MIT Press, 2010)
- art is important enough to people that they want to talk about them critically. art presents an intellectual challenge. And the fact that the art takes up a large portion of the brain provides a sense of pleasure. In the MDA article challenge is one of the aesthetics. Challenge is not difficulty, it is an experience, difficulty is a dynamic, not the aesthetic. Works of art are made in traditions and institutions The Smithsonian American art Museum has already presented a collection of video games as art, ranging from the first games made, to the most recent and amazing releases. Works of art tend to be characterised by emotional saturation sometimes it is incited by the art, but more often it is expressed by the art. the experiencer, feels that the art is conveying or representing a certain emotion. Bioshock, Bloodborne, Flower, flow. Games are designed to create or communicate an emotional experience. A perfect example is the game That Dragon, Cancer, a game by Ryan green about how he and his wife are coping with the terminal illness of their youngest son. Green has chosen games as his medium of expression, his way of coping, because he is a game designer – it is how he thinks, and partly how he processes the world and what is happening to his family. Art is representational. It represents things we see in life or worlds that in some way have representative value to our own world. skill and virtuosity. some are better than others special focus. put it on a podium, pay a lot of money for it etc. imaginative experience all art happens within the theatre of the mind. take for instance the fountain, of for that matter any of the art mentioned by Ian Bogost in his comments about art in the 20th century. They become more than just objects, only because of the meaning we give to them. now the remaining aesthetics mentioned in the mda article, i think are also aesthetics that i feel apply to most if not all art. games as drama does art communicate dram? I think it does. especially in cases of stark contrast between colour or themes, they even provide drama in the case of controvesial art such as the fountain. it was originally banned from the art gallery it was submitted too, but became in part because of this, one of the most celebrated and famous examples or free expression of art. games as narrative art tells a story. all art. the stories communicate very differently and the stories are as different as the mediums and artist, but they definiately tell a story. games as a social framework does art fulfill that need? we all have these basic needs. perhaps denis would say it is a result of evelution. we see these things as necessary for our survival. games as uncharted territory games as self discovery games as past time now these are different experiences that the designer may strive to create with there game. I'm not too sure about that last one, but im
- so inconclusion are video games art? absolutely. but not necessarily. That is to say video games are not art by virtue of being a video game, or a game at all.video games re art when they are used to communicate an aesthetic, and they communicate it well.So a video game is not automatically art, but certain games definately qualify, whether it is for the beauty found in the level design, which like the comparison between the prose of jane austens novels and the brush strokes in da vincis mona lisa, is a completly separate thing to the purely visual art used in a game such as for example mario bros. one. one of the five games that is not only featured, but actually playable in the smithsonian art exhibit. so games, like music, like painting or sculpture are an expressive medium. They can be used arbitrarily it is true, I personally find it difficult to see the deeper artistic merit in a game like call of duty. particularly the later releases just seem like copycat art, with a little extra content for the online audience. However I definitely see artistic merit and expression is many other games such as those included in the smithsonian collection. Particularly titles such as journey and flow, or the game I mentioned earlier “that dragon, cancer”.