Approaches to Games as Art

This post is an introduction in a series I am writing on approaches to making games as art.

Games as art has been the focal point of many heated debates. You no doubt have your own opinion on the subject as I have mine. My views most closely align with this speech by Brian Moriarty. Games are NOT art BUT they most certainly can be, which is why I am writing this series of articles. I want to share my thoughts, challenges, and potential methods to overcome those obstacles I have encountered while attempting to make games as art. I would really like to one day experience a game that feels like art!

I have been very interested in this field since pre The Marriage and Passage time and have attempted many times to make games as art. All attempts were, in my opinion, complete failures. I have made art in other mediums. I have also had some art, including one game art, in a gallery. While I have studied art on my own, I do not have a formal art education. I am sharing from my own perspectives, ideas, and experiences. You can see a few pieces I've worked on at www.khepercrowbird.com/blog/.

What is art? What is an artist?

Instead of going with a shotgun definition, I am going to use a focus on one definition as a focal point. Art is a creation that captures the unknown. The unknown being an understanding of ourselves and our reality that we, as a collective, have yet to experience. It has also been called the mystery, God, the void, nothing, etc. This is preciously why art is so hard to quantify, art does not exist in a logical place. To capture a mystery one most become a mystery. As one definition of art arises it ceases to be an unknown and the definition must change.

An artist is then a person who creates with the focus to capture the unknown. I don't see an artist as something superior to those who create for craft or entertainment or education, rather I see them more as an explorer of the mystery whose primary goal for creating is discovery and their own personal development. I also think it is an incredibly unrewarding field as many artist will never actually create a work of art. This has given rise to the many creative-in-artist-clothing we see today. Most artist I have met are severely under-appreciated and are often unable to support themselves let alone their artwork. Art is a very difficult undertaking!

One thing I need to stress, there is nothing wrong with making games. Games do not need to be works of art to be culturally relevant or to be validated for their positive roles in the development of a person. When I read of people trying to force games to be considered art it makes me kind of sad because it shows people who are very insecure with the medium. A good game may actually be way better than a good art piece, this is okay. If you love games then make great games that show off the depth of the medium. Be careful not to make something that tries to be both great art and a great game, you are likely to accomplish neither. I love to work with the unknown, so I attempt to make art.

Destructing common mistakes when labeling art

I have read many arguments about why games ARE art. The following are the common misconceptions I encountered, given in order of my own progression on understanding art. If you disagree, instead of arguing, I highly recommend actually trying to make art in any medium. The best way to understand art is to try and make art.

Now at this point you may be saying "What's left?". Well, not much. Remember you can't quantify nothing. Art is layers on the nothing that is everything and the everything that is nothing. All we have is our own intuition and feeling, tools such as experiences and symbols, and our medium.

Problems inherit to the medium

There are many good resources to better understand the artist intuition and tools. However, the biggest obstacle if you are trying to make games as art is the medium itself. To best be able to create art, the medium needs to be as transparent as possible. I hope to cover the following problems and potential solutions to overcome in future articles. If you have any more problem areas, please let me know so I can try to figure out solutions.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read this introduction. If you have any feedback or encouragement, please share, I'm really not sure if there are others interested in exploring this field with me. If so, I will definitely write more!

Also, I can't stress how important it is to actually MAKE art if you want to be an artist. Any kind. Try, discover, and understand your own voice is crucial to being an artist. Practice, practice, practice!