Blog post 8

For today's blog post we must choose one of the concepts from the first five chapters from Bogost (art, empathy, reverence, music, pranks) that you find interesting. Use quotations from that chapter and specific examples from your knowledge and experience to discuss, explore, and make an interesting and non-obvious argument about that term in contexts separate from video games in a way that extends, contradicts, or goes beyond what Bogost is saying. ("Art is important" or "We need empathy" are examples of obvious arguments.)

Above video game screen shots as listed from top to bottom (Ico, Zelda Twilight Princess, Rayman 2d, and Journey)

Above are famous painting recognized by the art world (Russian artist, Picasso,famous love painting, Tintoretto, famous owl painting, Japanese painting, Duchamp toilet)

I Remember...

I remember playing my first video game and going to my first art museum. Walking through the art museum happened first though. My first art museum I have ever went to was NOMA or the New Orleans art museum.

 I remember wandering through the halls and my parents' loud whispers about my excitement with the art. At the same time I remember the first game system that I have ever played. A green game boy color. My parents' whispers became yells as they found me wide awake at ungodly hours playing the "good for nothing junk".

Now in our books, in the first chapter, of the first line, of the first sentence there is a question.: "Are games art?" I think a better question is "what is art, and can games be classified under it?" But for us to understand this we have to go back in time and look at art through the ages.

(Below: are SOME of the major art periods)

(ancient Egyptian art)

(ancient Greek art)

(ancient Roman art)

(Byzantine art)

(Renaissance art)

(Mannerism and Baroque)

(Rocco)

(Neoclassicism)

(Romanticism)

(Realism)

(Impressionism)

(Post Impressionism)

(Expressionism)

(The Fauves)

(Futurism)

(Cubism)

(Surrealism)
(DADA)

(Geometric art)

(Abstract expressionism)

(Pop art)

(Op art)

(New figuration)

(Outsider art)

(Multiculturalism art)

(Street art)

As you can see art has changed vastly over our history. (And all of these pieces are recognized as major art icons.) What in one period may be acceptable it may not be in another period. Which brings us back to the question: "What is art?"

In Ancient Egypt art was to record history, to worship the gods, and great Pharaohs. Romanticism art was all about painting these grand ideas of love and conquest. DADA wanted to change the perspective of the viewer on any aspect of life or imagination. Street art took back alleys and made them into beautiful creations. If you were to boil all this down, art can be described as ( a view-able object or image that forces the viewer or viewers to realize or believe something because of the image.) This definition I believe can be taken to video games.

Video games....

As shown above video games can now show images that rival even the most well known art pieces. Not only can the viewer be forced to believe or realize something because of the viewable image, but they can also interact with the "art" as well. So not only are video games art but they may be the most powerful known version of art. I believe that video games can even be called the next art movement. When searching the web for the art above I found these images:

To question that video games are art is to question what is art. And I believe that art is a view-able object or image that forces the viewer or viewers to realize or believe something because of the image. I also believe that video games have a huge role in today's concept of art and that it is even becoming a movement in the art world.