Is This Video Game Art?

First of all, in order to answer whether a video game is art or not, we need to define the notion of art itself. In my opinion, art is something beautiful and expressive. The form does not matter - it can be a painting, a performance, a sculpture, a film, a song, a dress or a make-up. Everything can be art, as long as it is emotive. Art can be done by adults or children. It can be done by those with artistic background or without it, as long as it creates emotions. Please, see the link below:

Digital games - But are they art?
















Adams (2007) in his article introduces us to the notion of art and, at the same time, highlights its ambiguity. Adams assumes that “the boundaries between art and non-art are not hard and fast; there is a grey area.” (p.255). Adams enumerates various dimensions of this term, such as: literary arts, fine arts, and decorative arts. Moreover, Adams distinguishes the work of art from the object itself stating that, very often, the second one is just the delivery medium and does not possess any artistic value while being separated from the artwork.

Adams points out that some video games should be treated in categories of literary arts since, similar to movies, contain narrative elements. Nevertheless, as stated earlier, art does not have to be narrative, it can be visual – providing addressee with pleasurable aesthetic or kinetic experience. Moreover, similarly to great works of art, games are able to survive many centuries in spite of various changes in, for example, culture or language.

Adams tries to explain the development of the philosophy of art which, at the beginning, was identified more with copying certain objects in order to create their accurate representatives. The breakthrough of the twentieth century, however, established different ways of perceiving things raising, at the same time, the idea of art as a form of expression.

In spite of many approaches towards the purpose of art, it certainly possesses one, undeniable feature – durability. Perceiving things as being aesthetically interesting does not change with times.

The perception of art has changed. Together with the introduction of popular culture, art no longer needs to be placed in galleries and museums. Its medium can be interactive, allowing for self-immersion in the new form of experience. There is a thin line between artwork and pop culture. Adams supports his point of view by comparing game and film industries and explaining that the majority of movies is not art, so is not most of the games.

Adams debates about the possibility that interactivity precludes art – the way of communicating changes, viewer interferes, author is no longer an artist. However, most of us know the notion of performing arts. Such artists as Marina Abramovic or Yoko Ono allow viewer to interact. In the performance entitled “The Artist is Present”, Abramovic puts 72 different objects on the table, such as, e.g.: a scourge, a gun, a rose, a razor blade, pliers, a mud, a condom, a jar of honey, and waits. You can please her, you can hurt her. Ono, on the other hand, in performance entitled “Cut Piece” kneels on the stage, while a pair scissors lies in front of her. The viewers' task is to cut a piece of her clothing and take it with them. The performance ends when Ono is being completely exposed. The purpose of both performances is to show that civilisation is like a thin layer – a group of people can change into beasts very quickly if you allow them to do so. Both, Abramovic and Ono prove that interactivity between an artist and a public creates art itself. Adams believes that interactivity enables players to discover the message of art since, according to him, games are able to say things.

Adams claims that art possesses settled features, e.g.: content or aesthetic. “Art must have content” (p.258) since its purpose is to express certain issues and ideas. Art also determines what is beautiful and what is ugly. Art, as having an aesthetic, needs to be appealing, meaningful and deep. Games might me deep and might me shallow. Their form might be aesthetic or not. Games might or might not contain ideas. But if they do, players are able to learn things out of them due to various simulations. Most of all, however, Adams points out that art “makes you feel things.” (p.259). Good art is also characterised by lack of formula and utility. Its purpose is not to be sold, its purpose is to be telling.

Adams states that games, in order to be treated as an art form, need to possess certain features of other art forms. Nowadays, games production is mostly focused on providing players with fun and entertainment – they are lack of deeper message.

“Great art challenges the viewer. It demands that the viewer grow, expand his or her mind, see things that have not been seen before, think things that have not been thought before.” (Adams 2007, p.261)

Art is about taking risks, putting yourself in someone else's shoes, looking at things from different angle, thinking out of the box.

Adams describes his experience playing “Balance of Power” when he decides to play the game from the enemy side. This decision not only allows him to understand all the challenges that the Soviet Union faced during the Second World War, but also changes his perspective forever.

Games, in order to be considered as an art form, need undeniable changes. Adams tries to prove that games have a potential, however, “gaming awards must change.” (p.262). Prizes in gaming industry are mostly given for best graphic or sound. There is almost no prizes in categories of acting or story-telling. Moreover, there are almost no well-educated critics being willing to make an in-depth analysis of a game. If certain elements are treated as irrelevant it is hard to expect any improvement from their authors.

Adams does not indicate whether he believes in interactive entertainment as being an art form or not. Nevertheless, he defines all the changes that should be made in order to do so.

Bibliography:

Ernest W. Adams (2007) “Will Computer Games Ever Be a Legitimate Art Form?”. In Clarke and Mitchell (eds), Videogames and Art, 255-264.

Marina Abramovic: http://www.skny.com/artists/marina-abramovi/ (Retrieved September 8, 2014)

Yoko Ono: http://imaginepeace.com/archives/2680 (Retrieved September 8, 2014)