Years of debate over whether or not video games are an art might finally be over. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has recently added "Flower," by Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany and "Halo 2600," by Ed Fries, to their permanent collection.
Controversy started in 2005 when Roger Ebert proclaimed that video games could never be art after reviewing "Doom," a movie based on a popular video game from 1993.
Other factors have caused resistance to video games being accepted in the art world. Growing up, my parents taught me that playing them would rot my brain. Many other children are taught that video games are bad from an early age as well. I understand I could be doing something more productive, but the shaming doesn't end there.
With recent shootings and terrorist attacks, the media and government are quick to use video games as a scapegoat. These groups cite games displaying gratuitous violence and sex, such as "Call of Duty" or "Grand Theft Auto," to back their claims. These claims are inaccurate and assume what might be true about one part holds true of all of its parts.
Could I convince you that all books are turning people into sadistic nymphomaniacs by citing "Fifty Shades of Grey" and the genre of erotic literature? Such a claim would be taken as a farce.
These factors are used as fodder for people to not take video games as a serious anything, much less art.
Though some video games might feel like Dadaism, it would be a shame to assume this medium is being created to satiate the lust of a debased generation determined to spoil itself.
This relatively new and controversial form of art exposes audiences to new trains of thought and empathy. Video games break the fourth wall by allowing the audience to experience through action and manipulation.
This new mode of art manipulation helps in fostering a deeper understanding of concepts and feelings the game is trying to express. Forcing audiences to make decisions that might break social norms and procedure, video games can lead to dramatic evaluations of ethics and morality. By combining manipulation with cinematography, music and literature, video games create an artistic experience like no other.
"Flower" allows players an escape to nature. The audience takes control of a sweeping wind as it picks up flower petals.
"Flower" brings about relaxation with all the Zen, therapeutic remedies that looking at a piece of landscape art has. Finally, the ability to watch art unfold just as fast as Bob Ross can paint it!
However, "Flower" goes beyond aesthetic value. The game slowly transitions from a rural to metropolitan setting. With the same task of traversing the land and making flowers bloom, "Flower" communicates a need to find harmony between nature and urban life.
It is clear that "Flower" is an aesthetic medium used to express ideas and shared feelings in a visually compelling way. In other words, it's art. And there are other good, artistic games out there created by inspired thinkers with artistic minds trying to share their message with an audience.
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