Video games as art

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MIT 3371 - February 10, 2014

Agenda
The debate What is art?

Games as art
Mid-semester evaluation

The debate:
Ebert Games are not art in principle
Competitive, goal-oriented, and can be won Focus should be on experience, not winning Should improve or alter nature through the artist s soul Taste we know

What is art?

Art is the process of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.
Wikipedia (via Kellee Santiago)

The use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.

Encyclopedia Britannica

The quality, production, expression, or

realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

Oxford Dictionary

What could make a game into art?

What games might be considered art? Why?

Art
Common ways to consider games as art
Relies on traditional artistic forms New lively art

Tool or inspiration for art

Traditional art
Smuts According to most major theories of art, many video games should be considered art
First concreative mass art

Games can be considered art based on:

Elegance in competition Narrative Visuals / graphics Audio

Elegance in competition
Sports are evaluated on aesthetics
Competition doesnt preclude elegance

Art can be competitive

Includes competition Entered in competitions
http://www.spike.com/videoclips/u98wwu/grandmas-boydance-dance-revolution

Literature
Games rely on:
Literary / narrative conventions Literary storylines

Offers different narrative experiences

Interactivity makes stories changeable

Literature
Narrative
A story that follows a sequence of events

Games follow narrative conventions

Beginning, middle, end Events, actions, plot, characters

Games also borrow from films

Camera techniques Narrative devices and cut scenes

Literature and film

Max Payne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4amtGiPpvhQ

Dantes Inferno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUOZRRU_Dy g

Music
Games can:
Use existing music Create new music Generate music

Music
Eternal Sonata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owrBn3S1_3o

Rez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4EFNWe4m Cc

Visual art
Artists create game worlds Art developed through design process Borrow artistic and aesthetic styles

World of Warcraft

Halo 3

Half-Life 2

Bioshock

Traditional art
Gravity Bone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdt-lboxt7Q

Okami
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuz0IF1MAk&feature=related

Do you think video games can be considered art given their relationship to different art forms? Is this enough to allow them to be considered art in their own right?

New lively art

Jenkins Games are a new lively art Great Arts:
Express universal and timeless values

Lively Arts:
Focus on popular aesthetics Give shape and form to immediate experiences and impressions Embedded in everyday life

Focus on valuing popular culture

Art
Games still need to evolve to be art
Technical challenges and industry pressure arent excuses

Games need:
Memorable moments and emotional intensity More experimentation and innovation Ongoing criticism

New lively art

Lively arts:
Then: jazz, Hollywood films, comic strips Now: Hollywood films, cable tv, video games

Games are a lively art because they:

Are popular and accessible Have to be relevant and novel Innovate and push boundaries Are embedded in everyday life and experience

New lively art

Passage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3o0HFXPfco

Flower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJam5Auwj1E

What games might be good examples of a new lively art ?

Do games have the potential to be great art, or are they more likely to be lively art?

Tools and inspiration

Inspiration for fan art Inspiration for fine art
Into the Pixel E3 (2008) The Art of Video Games - American Museum of Art (2012)

Art installations Games as tools

Halo fan art

Warcraft fan art

Fallout 3 - Into the Pixel

Tools and inspiration

Dance, Voldo, Dance (Soul Calibur)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k08gjJbxG-A

Red vs Blue (Halo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAM9fgV-ts

MineCraft Imperial City

Art Is Not The Opposite Of Fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f LKVg-2d54c

Are video games art (or could they be in the future)? Ebert questions, Why are gamers so intensely concerned, anyway, that games be defined as art? Why do you think it might be important for games to be considered art?

Take away
Games may be considered art because of their:
Use of traditional art forms Status as a new lively art Use as inspiration and a tool for art