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Are computer games/video game art? Have some achieved art status but others have not? Have none achieved art status yet but could do so in the near/distant future?

I have a student of mine who wishes to answer this question and I was hoping that you guys here might be able to help. To make things awkward I am away for the next month (18/7 - 18/8) so apologies for not responding! Hopefully my student will be on here to respond/give thanks!

As a quick thought my answer would be that they are an art form. No idea how to justify that statement yet but will be thinking on it whilst I am away!

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Welcome to Philosophy.SE! I hope you enjoy your stay here. Regrettably, this particular question lacks focus and definition, rendering it unanswerable for exactly the reasons described below. You would need to begin at least by defining art, then tell perhaps tell us which games you believe are art but do not meet this definition. Give us some background to your problem and explain how you think philosophy can help you with an answer. :) – stoicfury♦ Jul 17 '12 at 22:36
I think its a good question. Photography struggled for a century before it became accepted as art. – Mozibur Ullah Jul 18 '12 at 3:06
My sense would be that, at least for most sane values of "art", the case can be made pretty straightforwardly. Maybe you could share a little more of the background of this problem? Note that telling us a little more about the context and motivations would go a long way towards answerable/reasonably-scoped; this background helps answerers know exactly what it is that we're looking to explain, as well as the optimal level of analysis, granularity, rigor, etc. – Joseph Weissman♦ Jul 18 '12 at 23:30
Might be relevant: uproxx.com/gammasquad/2012/12/… – Joseph Weissman♦ Dec 5 '12 at 22:33

closed as not a real question by stoicfury♦ Jul 17 '12 at 22:29

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

1 Answer

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I'd categorise them as a craft rather than an art. They are highly wrought works but I don't think they say anything authentic about the human condition. Perhaps it is too early to tell whether they could evolve into something that could.

One attribute that distinguishes this craft from any other art-form is interactivity. No other art-form has this (some performance art & theatre tries to involve the audience) to anything like this degree.

Rather than an art-form, I suggest that it is Spectacle, (as in the Society of Spectacle) and that it actively in opposition to Art.

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