Are video games valid forms of art?
Tonight, I started going through my creative coffin, a black, well traveled suitcase, with some broken wheels, that I keep on the top shelf in my wardrobe. It is filled with scrapbooks, journals, reference papers, artwork, musings, poetry, and other creative expulsions that I've wasted paper on throughout the years.
Going through previous creative work can be a confronting, yet cathartic experience, mixed with a certain sense of What the fuck was I thinking?
Among the papers I wrote for University, I found an essay that I wrote - it was titled (rather elaborately) To What extent do video games or interactive electronic games conform to the notions of art? How do video games conform to these prescribed notions? With cinema the art of the 20th century, to what extent can video games be considered the art of the 21st century?
I thought this would be a relevant, still interesting read. I was sorely mistaken. The essay received a high distinction, the highest possible grade, but now, ten years later, fails to stand up and make a grand statement about why we should consider that video games are art.
It was a construction for me to escape into, and develop my then degree into something that was relevant for me - someone who wanted to tell stories through the media of video games; and convince the institution that there was sufficient maturity in the field of video game narratives, art work, musical scores, and conceptual thinking; that video games were to be considered interactive, collaborative works of art.
Albeit, highly produced, commercialised, and accessible works of art.
It seems at least one man at the institution saw my logic; giving me a high distinction for my efforts. In retrospect, I barely scratched the surface of the topic - except citing the ignorance of one author, and the open-mindedness of another. The essay was trying to introduce the video game into an institutionalised and formal capital A Art environment; where I don't think it should belong.
Sure, there are excellent, fine examples of games that as standalone pieces, can be considered art, BioShock Infinite, Deus Ex, Planescape Torment, probably Zelda, and many others; but we're further along now. Art, in my mind is something that is disruptive, universal, and yet, a shared experience that is not quite shared.
Path of Exile's skill treeWe also live in a time where games are no longer analysed on their constituent parts in depth - and you'd find it rare to have somone comment, for example, on the Path of Exile skill tree as being reflective of the multitude of choices you make in life leading to some penultimate moment - the fact that in order to specialise at something; you must devote all your energies to one thing, and one thing alone, or you have to start from scratch again.
Does this not do more to describe the human condition (whatever the fuck that is), than a painting hanging on a wall? You tend to linger in a game world for a far greater period of time than what you would ever study a single painting or film. Yet, you experience a compressed struggle in a game, and a deeply intimate one at that; which no other art form can emulate.
Do you think that there is an argument that the video game can be art?
What game would you consider to be art?
In my opinion, most games with a good story can be considered "art" just as much as a good movie. So I could say Dishonored, Batman: Arkham Games, Quantum Break, Half-Life series, Witcher series, Alan Wake, Mass Effect Series etc., the list could be really long. But to talk about the even more "artsier" games:
Your examples (Deus Ex, Bioshock: Infinite - and the first game as well, with its narrative innovation, Planescape: Torment - it's like a good book) are great, and I can add a few more:
1.Braid: One of the best platformers with beautiful, unique visuals, a great plot twist and with a deeper meaning. (I haven't played Jonathan Blow's other game, The Witness, but it's probably similar from the "art viewpoint")
2.Dark Souls series: The graphics and the atmosphere are simply incredible and what the game represents (you learn from your failures, you should never give up and you will succeed) can be considered as a life lesson.
3.Ori and the Blind Forest: The music, the visuals, and the heartwarming story... Everything is so beautiful in this game, that you will remember it forever.
I think lately the numbers for video games that can be considered as art are growing as the industry matures and I really like this tendency.
Thanks for your detailed response!
Remedy definitely have the formula locked. Max Payne, Alan Wake, Quantum Break; all excellent.
The other artisans at this level must certainly be Naughty Dog, between Uncharted, The Last of Us, and whatever else they've got coming; they're always superb at plying their craft.
I'm really looking forward to Detroit: Become Human; as I feel this may be a preview of a renaissance in games that explore post-human themes in more depth, in preparation of Cyberpunk by CDProjekt Red.
Oh yeah, the Max Payne trilogy is also great and good to see that I'm not the only one who loved Quantum Break. That game is a bit underrated, simply because of the XBox One timed exclusivity and later the Windows Store fiasco. And most people probably didn't read the e-mails in it (Time Knife ftw! :D) either, while I really enjoyed the combination of the great action parts, the TV series, and the reading.
Naughty Dog and Quantic Dream: They are the main reason that it hurts to not have a PS4. But I have so many PC games already (it will be enough for the next 10 years probably), that I just can't justify buying a console for a few - although probably amazing - game. Maybe when the cryptos start to skyrocket again. :)
And I've forgotten in my last comment: I've found your viewpoint about the PoE skill tree really interesting. I might add the feeling that comes with the endless possibilities in real life as well: What the hell should I learn/do?
That, and the rather pessimistic feeling of "What doors am I closing by pursuing this opportunity."
It doesn't feel balanced with what I'm gaining from the other opportunity. Decision paralysis.
I see that as something incredibly difficult to express in traditional media without enormous context, narrative and well built themes.
Yeah, different art forms have various elements to reflect life, few of them unique only to video games. There is no decision paralysis for example without having choices in the first place. If you read a book or watch a movie you are just a "witness" of things, they aren't interactive. In a lot of video games, you are the Shaper (!) of events.
But even such things as the grinding aspect (in different ways in various games) can be similar to life: Sometimes you have to do the same thing over and over in a well-planned way to be faster/stronger/wiser etc.
I think video games are still looked down upon a bit (compared to reading for example - well, in some cases, it's justified of course), but if people would know the games we mentioned here, they would have a different opinion probably.
To say that a video game cannot be art by nature would show a big portion of arrogance. As Joseph Beuys said already: "Everybody is a artist."
On the other hand - is every video game a piece of art? No, certainly not.
Here we come to the fundamental differences between, lets say, a painting and a video game. A painting is (at least usually) made by one person, and its look is not orientated on the commercial success. Also its normally not very expensive to make.
Those factors are totally different for a video game. Firstly, its not the result of the art of one person. There are dozens, sometimes hundreds of people working on one game. That means a substancial investment, which should at least get returned from the sales, better somewhat more as a profit.
This is why most games are not appearing very inventive. "Stick with the stuff that sold well before." is usually the motto - just as its done with movies as well.
So it takes courage for a games studio to produce something that isn't mainstream and will probably not sell so well. But there are some who do it, Santa Monica Studios for example is one of them. They made a number of very "different" games over the years, like "Flowers", "Hohokum", "Journey" and "Bound" among others. They all have certainly some artistic aspects and are way outside the the usual video game genres.
And even games that appear pretty "regular", like the "Watchdogs" games by Ubisoft, can have a artistic aspect. They are normal first-person- shooters basically - but the scenery is state of the art, as good as it can be on todays average computers. That is a kind of art too, I would say.
Also, I wouldn't dismiss your old prediction to quickly, that video games (in a wider sense) can be the art form of the 21st century.
We see some new excieting developements already, like VR and even tactile interfaces - and the century is still long.
Video games, in my mind; are the progression of art installations - environments that you enter to experience something. We've seen a huge number of games in this genre recently, by way of "walking simulators", which simply take the art-installation experience of being immersed in "this environment" to a totally different level.
When we have those sorts of artists, merged with VR - to create simulations of their artistic visions; I think is when we'll see the real magic start to happen.
There's undoubtedly excellent technical art in almost every major game released - and the increasing visual fidelity across all genres is incredible!
Yes, a lot is possible in this field, and its hard to say where it could be heading. New technology opens new ways to create art, as we are seeing lately. May be not so much in the way of "games" as we know them now, but in different kinds of experiences.
One fascinating thing I found are the VR "films" - like a animation film, but you are right in the middle of it. But without taking a active role in it. There is one out for the PS4 VR system, its called "Alumette", that is quiet artsy.
But its all just the beginning. First, more people need to be able to view such things, then there will be more productions, too.
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