This is a webcomic I discovered today. I felt it was somewhat related to the discussions we've had of what art is for as believed by the modernists and postmodernists.
Is art only art if it ends in art? Is it still art if it is used for some other purpose (like a game, or even a decorated fountain or a house)? I believe it still is. I think the writing in video games and webcomics as well is just as valid writing as any novel or article is. If anything, the fading that's occurring between comics and novels (creating the realm of the graphic novel) shows that quite well--words and images are mixing more and more. Many graphic novels could still function with the words removed, just as that writing could work without the images, though they work much better together.
To reference another recent element of pop culture, I've recently gotten to watch someone play through the video games Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. These games are excellently well written--the plot is well executed, logical and intriguing, the space marines' dialogue is snappy and hilarious at times, and above all the universe is worth exploring. My point is, the writing in this game could allow for the material for countless novels. It is just as valid art as the novel would be, despite being a game, something where the end result is not art.
I realize the statement at the end of the comic is jesting, but it speaks to the day that might well be coming (or could already be here) when the art we create no longer fits our definition of art.
Chelsea
I started reading comics around seven-eightish. I remember my first comic-- Predator: Big Game issue 2. I remember curling up under a blanket atop my bunk-bed and flipping through the gory pages of a comic my mother probably wouldn't have approved of. If she would have caught me reading it, which Dad bought me incase you were wondering, then she would have said it was too violent. She would have said that it was for big kids and that it wasn't "real reading". But she never found me out. Fourteen years later I'm sitting in my study, a beer in one hand and in the other the latest issue of Fables, an ongoing comic series.
ReplyDeleteComics have become the latest argument in literature, as stated in Chelsea's excellent post. The D.R.W.G. (Dead Rich White Guys) who wrote the rules, reviews, and standards enforced into our brains since before we could ever remember would not approve nor utter the notion that comics may have an aesthetic, literary, value. They would say that comics, Graphic novels, hold no artistic worth and that the writing is that of a child's imagination gone astray. This may have been the case a few years back but things have changed. The graphic novel has earned the respect of the critics and the lit-snobs. Graphic novels such as "Watchmen" or even Batman have entered the mainstream media, both in film and in re-releases. Many other comics series have found their way into the film industry, thus upping their sales and therefore spreading their "worth" over a diverse public consisting of critics and kids reading comics under blankets. These once belittled sources of writing have now become massively popular across ages young and old.
Comics have redefined what we consider as "Art". Although there are the occasions where some comics may not be written and or illustrated well but the same applies to the written word/prose. Comics have found their way into the classroom and into the hands of readers who may have been discouraged to read a book but find themselves intrigued with the world and concepts of comic(s).
the same goes for video game writing, just as an aside. I have also played and own Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and agree with Chelsea that even the gaming industry has realized that people won't play their games if the story sucks. if the characters seem cheezy, plausible, or redundant. Games like ME and ME2 have broken the boundary between literature and video game. Combing extremely well written dialogue and story and placing the player into a world where your choices, literarily, can change the course of the games story. Game shave b ecome more interactive and with that, more concrete. They have become works of art that aren't just there for the viewer to stand back and take a gander. No. This form of art beckons for you to touch, to play, and to experience a world forged with a visual and written aesthetic. Art, as it has done in the past, has morphed into something new, waiting for new artists to mold it into mediums we could have only dreamt of as children reading comics, dreaming of a world where the meaning of art would one day change to fit our own standards and be defined by we the artists.
Video games are art even if it is just a product the way video games are developed nowadays it's an art form. A lot of time and money goes into a video game much like a big movie production. I remember first getting a Playstation and playing Final Fantasy for the first time. The characters were fun to play, the storyline kept me going to uncover the whole truth about the world the game immersed myself in. A lot of time goes into translating these pieces of art as well for other audiences. For instance, a game could be released in Japan in December but it won't be out in America until spring or early summer because of the translation of the game script and commands.
ReplyDeleteThey not only translate but change aspects to suit cultural difference. Aside from RPGs any game is a piece of art, some more so than others. There's Fumito Ueda, who produced such games as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. His games, especially Ico tend to break the language barrier. They barely use dialogue to move the storyline but as a player you realize what must be done.
Ico being a game that in its own right stands up as an artwork aside from other games for it's use of sampled audio. The a lot of the game's sound was made from recorded natural sounds like the sound of the ocean, etc. Another game that's inventive with it's sound is Rez, this game creates different techno beats once enemies are destroyed which compiles a track for the level as you travel deeper in. In a way both of these games deconstruct the normal method and audio we hear when playing video games. They show different ways of interpretation that ultimately lead to the same outcome, a well put together visual and audio experience.
Josh K
It is more widely accepted that graphic novel, video games and comics can be witnessed as art, and it all has to do with the perception of what art is. As you stated, art, depending on whose perspective is trying to define it, can vary. Art can serve a purpose, or just stand on its own. Art can hold meaning and relate to the author, or, art can make the viewer do the work to identity what is occurring within the art, or what the art means. The audiences experience, can even be part of the artwork itself.
ReplyDeleteAll art, or artistic mediums, have the ability to evolve over time, and gain a greater placement in the art world. Photography, for example, was not viewed as an art form for a long time. It was seen as a documentary tool, and was argued to not be art because it was a perfect mimetic copy of an object, individual or circumstance. Video games, with the incredible graphics and developed story lines were once seen only as entertainment, but can now be considered as artistic achievements. I've seen both games you reference Chelsea, and I agree with you that “the writing in this game could allow for the material for countless novels. It is just as valid art as the novel would be, despite being a game, something where the end result is not art.”
Video games, when broken down, are another medium or form of art. Video games are just another form of art, or another way to create art. Just as several author's we have read this semester play with the form of language and word placement as well as literary devices, video games do the same with plot, visual aesthetics and audience interaction.
In regards to the remark asking if Art would still be art if it served another purpose I would argue that this point already exists in the fine art world. There are countless examples of classical art that served another purpose beyond simple decoration. often referred to as craft-arts these included decorated combs, utensils and tools, mirrors that had been painted or furniture with intricate carvings. these are all examples of art that also serves another purpose and is well accepted in the artistic world. the argument against video games, I think, doesn't have so much to do with the games serving another purpose, as it does with the games being a new art form that is still developing and coming into it's own. many of the early video games, like early photography had little artistic merit, but as the product and technology has developed, more thought has been put toward artistic expression through this new medium. when photography was first developed it was not considered art, but was rather a helpful tool for artists, and a scientific curiosity, it took years of debate for photo to be considered a form of art on a large scale, and it will likely take years before video games gain acceptance as a valid art form. comics already are widely accepted, particularly in the form of the graphic novel. it's just going to take time and debate, like all new art forms do.
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