That Tree Looks Arty

There was a debate on the forum that shall not be named about whether or not Video Games can be considered art. And while, we will get to that answer... hopefully... I do think we need to establish a basis for the answer.

For starters, just what is art? Well, the general consensus is "anything pretty." And while that might be the common conception of what art is and what it does, that really isn't a good answer. The guy that through cow flops at the Virgin Mary probably wouldn't have said it was pretty, but it was art. It made a statement, and that statement allowed it to be art.

But while a "Shit Mary" makes a statement, for example Greek statues don't really, and they're art too. So, is one more art than the other?

Basically, for an answer, you'd have to go with what an artist, having thought about the answer and discussed it with colleagues, would say. They'd tell ya hat art can be "anything as long as it has a viewer." A artist trying to defend a work would likely agree that all Video Games are art, cause hell, they require a viewer. And hell, some of them are quite pretty.

But the real thought behind the question of art and Video Games is really if our culture says Video Games are art. Currently, no. But it took a while for movies to become culturally accepted art. Not all movies are accepted, and even if Video Games one day become art, not all Video Games will be held to that vaunted title.

If someone asked me, and I didn't wanna pull out the standard artist statement (cause hell, using that statement, a tree and a pile of poo are both art cause they both require a viewer), I would say that some are indeed, in my opinion art, and I would site whatever games I really liked at the time. Chrono Trigger is a great game, but I don't think the graphics on it are good enough. Chrono Cross is beautiful, but the game itself doesn't play well enough.

Video Games are an odd bird, and it's rare that a very good game comes out that it outstandingly pretty to look at and plays fantastic. But when we regularly get those, I think we will have seen the birth of a cultural art form.