Art game
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An art game (or arthouse game)
Art games are often considered a means of demonstrating
Overview
A definition of the art game was first proposed by Professor Tiffany Holmes (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) in her 2003 paper for the Melbourne DAC Conference, "Arcade Classics Span Art? Current Trends in the Art Game Genre". Holmes defined the art game as "an interactive work, usually humorous, by a visual artist that does one or more of the following: challenges cultural stereotypes, offers meaningful social or historical critique, or tells a story in a novel manner." The paper stated that an art game must contain at least two of the following: "[1] a defined way to win or experience success in a mental challenge, [2] passage through a series of levels (that may or may not be hierarchical), [3] a central character or icon that represents the player."[4] This definition was narrowed by Rebecca Cannon in an October 2003 paper where she highlighted the competitive, goal-oriented nature of the genre in defining art games as "compris[ing] an entire, (to some degree) playable game... Art games are always interactive—and that interactivity is based on the needs of competing [...] Art games explore the game format primarily as a new mode for structuring narrative, cultural critique."[6][8] In a 2015 article, Colombian video game theorist Carlos Díaz placed importance on the "reflection experience" as an integral aspect of the art game.[9] This experience can pertain to a variety of cultural avenues, but it transcends the medium and its structure.[9]
Within the topic of the art game, further subdivisions have been proposed. In her 2003 paper, Holmes identified two common art game types as the "feminist art game" (an art game that generates thinking about gender and typecasting), and the "retro-styled art game" (an art game that juxtaposes low-
Distinctions are drawn in describing the art game as a genre compared to traditional video game genres (such as the
Since the development of these early definitions, art theorists have emphasized the role of artistic intent [6] (of author or curator)[11] and further definitions have emerged from both the art world and the video game world that draw a clear distinction between the "art game" and its predecessor, "video game art".[12] At the core of the matter lies an intersection between art and the video game. Easily confused with its often non-interactive sibling art form video game art, and the concept of video games as an art form (irrespective of artistic intent), the essential position that art games take in relation to video games is analogous with the position that art film takes in relation to film.[6] ACM SIGGRAPH opened an online exhibit "The Aesthetics of Gameplay" in March 2014, featuring 45 independently developed games selected via a nomination process, where the mechanics of gameplay are, in part, tied to the visuals and audio of the game. Greg Garvey, the curator of this exhibit, compared this to the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk where the work attempts to encompass other art forms, though as Garvey comments, the "merger of interaction with the aesthetics" drives these games beyond this concept.[13]
"Art game" versus "game art"
Due to the contemporaneous improvement of
In drawing a distinction between games with artistic imagery and art games, commentators have compared the art to sculpture and have emphasized the concept of artistic intent in the creation of the art game. This difference has been described by
Another key distinction that has been made between art games and games with artistic imagery (and indeed all
In distinguishing between art games and video game art, the elements of interactivity and often competition (or goals) are frequently emphasized. Because art games are games and because games are interactive, definitions for the art game tend to require interactivity whereas video game art can be either interactive or non-interactive.
"Art game" versus "art mod"
The idea of a distinction between art games and artistic modifications to existing games is one that several commentators including Rebecca Cannon and Matteo Bittanti
For Cannon, the nature of a work as a
Other art theorists including Pippa Tshabalala have rejected this narrow definition of the "art game" and have instead adopted a broad definition under the theory that the concept of the game is not limited to systems where the author has created rules and goals, but that games emerge whenever the observer self-limits play experience. Thus, observers experiencing the Jodi art mod, SOD (a modification of Wolfenstein 3D), can experience it as an art game as soon as they decide that their goal will be to progress to the next level.[6]
History
Origins and first wave art games
The art game genre has emerged most directly from the intersection of commercial culture (specifically commercial video games) and contemporary
At the Art History of Games conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Professor
Video games were first displayed in the art museum setting during the 1980s, in retrospective exhibitions like
Rise of the "artist game"
Drawing from the modern traditions of the 1970s
The use of mods within art games became one of the primary tools for art game creators who designed games with a message, such as the addition of female characters to a traditionally male-centric game, or to force the audience to re-examine a familiar work in a different light.
As video games became increasingly common as a form of media throughout the 2000s,
Rise of the indie art game
Beginning in the early to mid-2000s with games such as
Discussions over the commercial viability of art games have led to speculation concerning the potential for the commercial video game industry to fund the development of "prestige games" (games that are unlikely to be commercially successful but whose artistic vision marks them as important to the development of the medium). These considerations are generally regarded as premature, as the concept of "prestige" hasn't yet taken hold for
Criticism of the term "art game"
Alongside the growing use of the term "art game", numerous members of the
- A view from some within the gaming community that describing a game as an art game means that it's pretentious and not fun.[37][38]
- A view that those who play and enjoy art games (known as "art gamers") are snobby and not to be emulated.[39]
- A view that the term "art game" needlessly introduces the distinction between low art within video games where it has never existed previously.[40]
- A view that the term "art game" is over-broad and that it is incorrectly used synonymously with "indie game" thereby improperly co-opting the concept of innovation when innovation itself is not art.[41][42]
- The idea that the term "art game" implies an exclusive claim to artistry within the medium of the video game and that art games are therefore superior to other forms.[37]
- The idea that works today labeled as "art games" lack the formal properties to properly be called games[43] or art at all.[44]
List of art games
See also
- Art film
- Auteur theory
- Computer art
- Game studies
- Glitch art
- Video games as an art form
- Video game art
References
- ^ "10.000 Moving Cities – Same but Different, AR (Augmented Reality) Multiplayer Game, Art Installation, 2018". Marc Lee. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
- ^ Schilling, Chris (23 July 2009). "Art house video games". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Steinberg, Scott (2010-08-31). "Who says video games aren't art?". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
- ^ a b c d e f g Holmes, Tiffany. Arcade Classics Span Art? Current Trends in the Art Game Genre Archived 2013-04-20 at the Wayback Machine. Melbourne DAC 2003. 2003.
- ^ a b c Cannon, Rebecca. "Introduction to Artistic Computer Game Modification". Plaything Conference 2003 (Sydney, Australia). October 2003.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Stalker, Phillipa Jane. Gaming In Art: A Case Study Of Two Examples Of The Artistic Appropriation Of Computer Games And The Mapping Of Historical Trajectories Of 'Art Games' Versus Mainstream Computer Games. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 2005.
- ^ a b Staff. Video Game Blogs Archived 2013-05-28 at the Wayback Machine. Format Magazine - Pushing Play. 5 November 2008.
- ^ a b Bittanti, Matteo. Game Art. Mattscape. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ S2CID 54948686.
- ^ S2CID 146825353.
- ^ a b c Ploug, Kristine (2005-12-01). "Art Games - An Introduction". Artificial.dk. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
- ^ Georgia Institute of Technology. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. Pp.26-32. 29 May - 1 June 2012.
- ^ Garvey, Greg (2014-03-24). "The Aesthetics of Gameplay - Curator's Statement". ACM SIGGRAPH. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
- ^ Chen, Jenova. Chat notes about Video Game, Art and Digital Medium. Jenova's Blog. 7 May 2008.
- ^ Young, Nora & Misener, Dan. Repeat of Spark 126 – October 16 & 19, 2011: Games as Art (Podcast available: Games as Art Archived 2014-10-29 at the Wayback Machine). Spark. 7 November 2010.
- S2CID 191477101.
- ^ Silfer, Kyle. Applied Ludology: Art games and game art. Alibi. V.16, No.28. Feature Archive. July 12–18, 2007.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84150-142-0
- ^ a b Pearce, Celia (2006). "Games AS Art: The Aesthetics of Play". Visible Language.
- ^ LaFarge, Antoinette. WINSIDE OUT: An Introduction to the Convergence of Computers, Games, and Art. University of California, Irvine. 2000.
- ^ Gamasutra. 8 February 2010.
- ^ Blow, Jonathan. Games as Instruments for Observing Our Universe Archived 2012-11-16 at the Wayback Machine. Champlain College, Burlington VT. February 2010.
- ^ Staff. "Chicago Computer Artist Accelerates to Warp Speed." Softalk. Pg.227-229. February 1983.
- ^ Pease, Emma (1997-05-14). "CSLI Calendar of Public Events, Vol.12:28". Stanford University - CSLI. Archived from the original on July 8, 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
- ^ Kuehn, Emily. "Review: The World of Art Games Archived 2014-07-12 at the Wayback Machine." Columbia College Chicago Profile. 2009.
- ^ Blakeman, Mary Claire. "The Art Side of Video Games." Video Games. Vol.2, No.4. Pp.27-30. January 1984.
- ^ Rosenkrantz, Linda. "New York: It's Happening, It's ... Teen Town!" The Washington Post. 23 April 1989.
- ^ a b c Holmes, Tiffany. Art games and Breakout: New media meets the American arcade. Computer Games and Digital Cultures conference (Tampere, Finland); Art Gallery, SIGGRAPH 2002. August 2002.
- ^ Stuart, Keith. Blast Theory brings interactive art to Exeter. The Guardian. 4 October 2011.
- Vienna University of Technology - Design and Assessment of Technologies Institute. February 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84150-142-0
- GameSetWatch. 27 September 2008.
- ^ Lee, Shuen-Shing. I Lose, Therefore I Think: A Search for Contemplation amid Wars of Push-Button Glare - 7. The Rise of Art Games. GameStudies.org. 2004.
- ^ Carless, Simon (6 November 2007). "The Endless Play Of The Endless Forest". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ Carless, Simon. Why Are There No Prestige Games? Archived 2019-01-12 at the Wayback Machine. GameSetWatch. 26 November 2006.
- ^ Pfeiffer, Alice. "Playing around with real life; Firm hopes to find niche with video games based on customers' histories." International Herald Tribune. 22 November 2011.
- ^ a b Sterling, Jim. Jimquisition: The Definition of Art Games Archived 2019-11-02 at the Wayback Machine. Escapist Magazine. 2 July 2012.
- ^ Short, Emily. Column: 'Homer In Silicon': On Aging Archived 2019-01-12 at the Wayback Machine. GameSetWatch. 9 January 2010.
- ^ Rogers, Tim. The Hierarchy of Video Game Haters. Kotaku. 21 January 2013.
- Molleindustria. 14 June 2011.
- ^ Smith, Edward. Why Games Matter Blog - Indie Games Aren't Art Games. International Business Times. 24 January 2013.
- ^ McCalmont, Jonathan. Last Tuesday: How to Make an Art House Video Game. Futurismic.com. 20 July 2011.
- ^ Meer, Alec. Time Goes By. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 7 December 2007.
- ISSN 1923-2691.
Further reading
- Bittanti, Matteo. Gamescenes: art in the age of videogames. Johan & Levi. 2006. ISBN 978-8-86010-010-8
- Bogost, Ian. How to Do Things With Videogames. U of Minnesota Press. 2011. ISBN 978-1-45293-312-2
- Clarke, Andy and Grethe Mitchell. Videogames and Art. Bristol: Intellect Books. 2007. ISBN 978-1-84150-142-0.
- Cannon, Rebecca. "Meltdown" from Videogames and Art (Clarke, Andy and Grethe Mitchell, eds.). Bristol: Intellect Books. pp. 40–42. 2007.
- Stockburger, Axel. "From Appropriation to Approximation". Videogames and Art (Clarke, Andy and Grethe Mitchell, eds.). Bristol: Intellect Books. Pp. 29, 34–35.
- DeFanti, Thomas A. "The Mass Impact of Videogame Technology." Advances in Computers. Vol.23. Pg.137. 1984. ISBN 0-12-012123-9
- Greene, Rachel. "Chapter 3: Themes in Internet Art" in Internet Art. ISBN 0-500-20376-8
- Holmes, Tiffany. "Arcade Classics Span Art? Current Trends in the Art Game Genre." Melbourne DAC 2003. 2003.
- Jansson, Mathias. Everything I Shoot Is Art. Link Art Center: LINK Editions, Brescia. 2012. ISBN 978-1-291-02050-2
- Kierkegaard, Alex. On the Genealogy of "Art Games". Insomnia Books. 14 March 2011.
- Sharp, John. A Curiously Short History of Game Art. Georgia Institute of Technology. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. pp. 26–32. 29 May – 1 June 2012.
- Stalker, Phillipa Jane. Gaming In Art: A Case Study Of Two Examples Of The Artistic Appropriation Of Computer Games And The Mapping Of Historical Trajectories Of 'Art Games' Versus Mainstream Computer Games. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 2005.