Wait, so video games aren't art?

[Orinon]

she just hasn't seen any of the real artistic aspects of games. she probably only heard of COD, a good game (Though I've never played it), but not exactly strong in Narrative. Bioshock has an artistic side to it with it's unique setting and intriguing story.
So yeah she's not crazy just ignorant

 

[CactiComplex]

I don't see any reason games shouldn't be considered art if they're being judged against the same criteria films and books are. Games tell a story, just as the other mediums do, they just let you interact with it and play out parts of the story.

That aside, some games feature graphics and cut-scenes so well designed and thought out that they alone could be considered art.

People, your teacher included, underestimate the amount of thought and detail (and art) that goes into games.

 

[GiantRaven]

No they aren't stop trying to make them art

Yes they are stop trying to deny them as art

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Is that all?

My university Creative Writing seminar tutor told me that fantasy was a genre entirely given over to cliche, I shouldn't waste time reading comics because they had nothing to add to my writing, and that videogames are devoid of real content.

University level, and he's just dismissed an entire genre and two mediums.

I'm asking daily for a seminar change.

 

[jack583]

not all games are art, but many are.
and those that aren't could be greatly improved if they were made with the idea of being art.
you wouldn't put a randon doodle a toddler made next to the Mona Lisa.
but really there is nothing i can say that hasn't already been said.

 

[tahrey]

^ This, I was about to suggest. Brew up a list of, say, five really good, artistically beautiful, story driven games, and challenge her to play a good way through each (ie to the really pretty bit / wrenching twist) or at least watch someone do it / watch FOOTAGE of it at that part, and still uphold that statement.

Given that Maro has a cowboy bebop intro still as their avatar, it might also be worth asking... does she consider animation, graphic novels, etc still worthy "art"? Particularly as there are many with near-gallery standard drawn content (particularly the novels), and the storylines and characterisation can be as good as any written novel.
(Hell, I've just taken delivery of a novel that's *the book of the comic* for Girl Genius. That's gotta be some kind of first... it's going to be an interesting read)

Sure, most of this stuff - comics, 'toons, games - ARE pulp trash, but then so is a lot of literature, music, cinema ... and even more "traditional" paintings, theatre, concerts get judged mostly on personal preference than any kind of intrinsic artistic value.
(Though I do guess you'd have trouble finding someone who'd say, e.g., that Beethoven was a talentless hack... quality sometimes shines through regardless. Though I have just read a pretty scathing - not to mention epically late - review of the Nausicäa DVD in a colleague's science ficition magazine. True, it has flaws, but so has a lot of "art" and they seemed to just hating as much on the artist in general as the actual work...)

EDIT: Agh, ninja'd by my own length. I was of course talking about the post now several spaces up. Look for the pistols on a red background

 

[AK47Marine]

Just today in middle school English, we got a writing prompt about means of communication (art, music, literature) affecting peoples lives. After my teacher started to take questions I asked if video games were a form of art, and what do I get? She almost burst out laughing then said "Of course video games aren't art, thats solely a worthless technology!" I later asked if movies were considered art and she said they were. Now how aren't they art, compared to movies of course. They both have actors, plot twists, romances in some of them. That seems pretty art like to me. Is my English teacher as insane as I think she is?

not insane but ignorant, educate the stupid sir! The high point of a game in terms of communication (which is a shoddy definition of art but whatever) is it combines the story telling mediums of books and movies and makes it interactive, letting the people and environments and enemies tell the story but letting you control the perception of that story.

She isn't an English teacher if she can't comprehend different mediums of story telling.

You mean she's not an English teacher if she CAN comprehend different mediums of story telling. Well, ok, in my country at least, English as a subject is a bad joke.

Not sure what country your in from but I can say from my recollections of High School in the US that it's a bad joke here too.

 

[Intronaut]

They are not art.

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. Video games very well may be art, but what does it matter? Regardless of how you classify them, they will remain the same. Is OOT any worse if we can't label it art? No, it'll play the exact same either way. Why gamers are so adamant about calling games art will always be beyond me. As a matter of fact, given what passes as art these days, I would rather them not be.

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Lots of good articles have been written on this topic, and if you want to read something a little thick and philosophy-heavy, maybe check out this one I wrote for The Ontological Geek:

http://ontologicalgeek.blogspot.com/2010/08/big-question.html

I'd provide a TL/DR, but that's against the purpose of the blog. At any rate, to seay "video games aren't art," like has been said above, usually just means that the person in question is ignorant. No one who has played BioShock or Mass Effect or Fallout 3 or Planescape: Torment or any of a number of other games could possibly be so opposed to the notion.

Overall, though, it's probably not worth fussing about-- ignorant people tend to stay ignorant. If she's interested, then some Extra Credits, or my Ontological Geek post, or some other good Internet references might help your case, but she's probably just completely discounting the idea, and there's no use arguing with that kind of approach.

 

[Doive]

Video games will be an art form when game designers try to make them art instead of pumping out boring repetitive shite like call out duty.
To be art something has to have some kind of artistic merit or meaning, which is why most films are not considered art and why a school child drawing their pet cat in crayon isn't art either.
Of course some games could be considered art, but on the whole they are overshadowed by games meant solely to be be played by mindless child drones, not appreciated as art.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

If i were you......i wouldn't care about the opinion of a person who has never and will never touch a videogame, but still feels the need to judge it, without any proof or reason.

In my counrty, we call those people...... Dipshits