Wait, so video games aren't art?

[Axolotl]

But you haven't made an arguement. You've said games aren't art but you haven't backed it up in any way.

Actually if you had been paying attention or could understand it I did make my arguement.

Lets look at your post then.

No games are not art,

This is a claim not an arguement, you need to say WHY they aren't art. What qualities they lack that they need to have to be considered art.

now shut up about it and focus all that energy your wasting on something that actually matters.

And here you fail to back up the claim and instead just tell everybody else to just shut up.

Sure games can contain different forms of art in them but they themselves are no more art then the building that holds the art museum.

And here ou make another claim and back it up with an analogy, a flawed analogy because it relies on the assumption that architecture isn't and art form.

Games are not art, games contain pieces of art but they themselves are not. An extremely common mistake people in this thread have been making is that because games contain art they think that that automatically makes the game itself art. They however are wrong, just because something has art in it doesnt mean its art. I also believe that creating a game is an artform, but again that does not further the cause of games are art which is another misconception people seem to have. You dont consider a musuem art so why should a game be. They both do the exact same thing, they house art but they themselves are most definatly not.

And once again you don't back it up. What quality is it that games lack that means they aren't art? Or do you think they possess a quality that automatically means they can't be art?

 

[Tupolev]

You are trying to create a straw man arguement where there is none. Just because the creation of something is an artform does not mean that the final product is itself art. Interior decorating is an artform, but you dont consider your living room a piece of art. Games are no more art then a museum or even your living room.

What im pointing out is that people automatically assume that because games showcase art that they themselves therefore HAVE to be considered art. They refuse to even consider the fact that the showcase itself is not art.

Ah, I suppose I didn't look down the entire post chain that you specifically were responding to, so maybe you weren't addressing the thread in general.

There are probably people in this thread who wouldn't argue that it's art simply because it showcases it, and your current argument certainly won't convince them of anything.

 

[spartan231490]

Just today in middle school English, we got a writing prompt about means of communication (art, music, literature) affecting peoples lives. After my teacher started to take questions I asked if video games were a form of art, and what do I get? She almost burst out laughing then said "Of course video games aren't art, thats solely a worthless technology!" I later asked if movies were considered art and she said they were. Now how aren't they art, compared to movies of course. They both have actors, plot twists, romances in some of them. That seems pretty art like to me. Is my English teacher as insane as I think she is?

If your in High school. write about vid games and prove to her they're art. Use extra credits to give u some ideas.

 

[MikailCaboose]

Just today in middle school English, we got a writing prompt about means of communication (art, music, literature) affecting peoples lives. After my teacher started to take questions I asked if video games were a form of art, and what do I get? She almost burst out laughing then said "Of course video games aren't art, thats solely a worthless technology!" I later asked if movies were considered art and she said they were. Now how aren't they art, compared to movies of course. They both have actors, plot twists, romances in some of them. That seems pretty art like to me. Is my English teacher as insane as I think she is?

She isn't an English teacher if she can't comprehend different mediums of story telling.

That's a good point, actually. Video games are just that, it's just that the idea is to give you more control within said story.

 

[Soxafloppin]

Well Shadow of the Collosus seems alot more like art than, i dunno..The Green Hornet movie.

 

[lacktheknack]

Does it matter? Art is subjective. I thought that "My Bed" was a disgusting, worthless waste of space, but that didn't stop it from winning a Turner award.

 

[0986875533423]

Yes they are, but it really means very little.

Any form of expression of any medium or function is art, of a sort.

But that means pornography, religion and psuedoscience can also be viewed as art (Provided you look at their expression objectively rather than engage them) That's not going to make a good argument.

And frankly, the "art is corrupting our kiddies ARGWARGWARGWARGWARG" argument will always be around with any young medium, and the supporters of that argument will be unwilling to call the medium "art". I predict that at some point we'll invent some way to stream the experiences of the lives of historical and fictional figures into our lives in order to gain experiences from them and have fun. And then all the stupid protesters will be up saying "Durr Hurr this is all too direct it's not art" and "NOOOO John Lennon got shot and did drugs and I don't want my kids experiencing his life cause it's so WRONG"

tl;dr: History repeats itself, People never learn, and the only thing humans consistently improve on is our ability to irritate other people intensely.

PS. I have a more open-minded English teacher than you. Yah boo sucks. Now enjoy your life.

 

[CosmicSpiral]

The art community (the ones who decide what is to be considered "art") is biased, to say the least. They have certain innate ideas that exclude videogames from falling under their general umbrella, things like:

- The work of art itself is static
- The value of art is independent of viewer participation
- Art is not made for entertainment or monetary reasons
- etc. etc.

 

[Thyunda]

But why isn't the game itself art? So what if a group of students get together, write and film an absolutely amazing, in-depth look at humanity...why do the film critics declare it a work of art, but if a game did the same thing, 'it's a game and therefore not art'?
What about great artists that sat alone in a basement painting their pictures. Why is that art, and a game not? You've yet to define what makes something art and what doesn't.

Guess if it is mass produced and sold to millions then its not art. I dont see films as art either. But i guess if you got a one of a kind picture drawn by a certain game designer (like a drawing of bioshock character) then i guess that people can see that as art. I guess we all have our own thoughts on what we do or dont like. Maybe its one of those questions that depends on the eyes of the person that views it. I guess you can label games and films as an art form. But i guess i am writing my thoughts of art as comparing them to oil paintings, drawings etc. But i have no doubt these will change over time.

Well, you gotta remember that we're only dealing with copies of the original. It's comparable to selling prints of the Mona Lisa. It doesn't devalue it as art...well, it devalues it in terms of rarity, and significance. Would your opinion be different if you found a game that there was only one of?