Do you really believe that your games are art? If you do, then they are art.

shmoove

Picture a toy for a six month old baby. It's beautifully painted and molded by a master sculptor.

You see the toy on the shelf of Target. Is it art?

What if it's on the shelf of a collector?

The intuitive answers should be no and then yes. My conclusion is that art isn't about what goes into its making; it's about how it intends itself to be used.

Having said the above, there is no question to me the *making* of a video game is a very artistic, very modern thing. This is true even for the programming. When you consider the enormous complexity that is conquered in game software, you realize it is one of the most creative and inspiring things a person can do.

I almost agree with you. It is about intention. But I don't think it's the intention of the buyer, but of the creator.

We have a little arts and crafts market on Fridays. Local artists come and set up shop on the sideways and sell their wares. I might buy a trinket there. And in two months I have to move, and the trinket doesn't get packed. Next person moves in to my apartment, cleans up and the trinket ends up in the junkyard. Does it stop being art?

The toy on the shelf on target has an added hurdle. It has been mass produced. But if it has been beautifully painted and molded by a master sculptor (who wasn't only thinking about his next paycheck) then it is also art. It is the art of design and not the art that's actually created with your own hands, but it's still art.

It's interesting that you mention "mass produced" as something that reduces art value. Perhaps it reduces the "privacy" of what art communicates to us, a privacy which we highly value.

In video games, I think there is indeed a lot of expressions of art in the individual pieces, such as a beautifully painted image, or an inspiring soundtrack. As a whole, however, it's difficult to find an "art audience" for a game. If you look at traditional art, they are contemplative and communicative, rather than interactive. Continuous interactivity, especially, is not very compatible with artistic experiences. Probably this explains why the least interactive games (Myst) find the most mainstream auidences.

I have three points:

1) 'Art' is subjective, not objective. If you try to define it, you've missed the point. I view it as a person's creation (his work), but you may see it differently.

2) Why bother? So you term a particular game as a work of art. What now? The qualification is subjective and the game still remains something different to different people.

3) Yes, it is perfectly fine for a developer to enjoy his work and view it at some level as his art. That's just natural. Just don't expect everyone else to do so.

The fact is though, it matters a huge deal whether or not other people consider your work art. I for one would not at all mind being thought of as a maker of important works of art. It would help to explain what I'm doing to people, gain their respect and support, attract investors, and generally make my life better.

The reality is that games have retained their stigma of being less than mature entertainment for geeky people. To answer "Are Videogames Art?" is to better understand why that stigma is still there.

I don't see video games as art. They are without a doubt finely crafted pieces of work potentially done with meticulous detail and hours of hard work. So are coffee tables and things you find in antique stores. Those things aren't necissarily "art". Doesn't mean they can't be appreciated any less though.

I'd prefer to think of myself as a tradesman than an IT.

We're talking about two different ideas. An art can be any skill unrelated to science. For example, something that uses your imagination, rather than applied knowledge. Or even something that uses your instincts. But I think most people here are referring to whether or not games are represented as artistic. Artistict as in abstract. If that was the question being asked, I don't see the trail to follow. They are nothing of the kind. It's not impossible to create such a thing, but I believe it would be something new.

Good way to clarify. The two ideas have been discussed as if they were one.