My girlfriend's art teacher said video games are not art. Do you agree?

[Zappykins]

Rafux said:

Zappykins said:

Rafux said:

Zappykins said:

S.T.A.G.E. said:
The way the art world sees it, if the piece serves a function or purpose its not art. Kojima, the conept artist and my illustration teacher all agree on this.

Wow, you should ask them what they think of the 'ready mades' of Marcel Duchamp.  They sound really out of touch.   I would really like to see them fight the art world with something that has a function (like a chair, house, or spoon) is not art.   It sounds like they are teaching art, as if a doctor was teaching 18th century medicine.

A chair, house or spoon doesn't even have to be usable to be art, it could be a chair full of nails and still be art but a video game has to be playable and have the most basic fuction of fun and challenging gameplay. If a game is not playable/usable is not a game anymore.

So if a game is not playable then it's art?  So Ninja Gingerbread Man is the greatest piece of digital art ever?

I never said that. I said a video game has to be playable to be a video game and Ninjabread Man does have gameplay mechanics even if you think they are bad they were designed to be fun and challenging.

Can you make a video game without gameplay? Can you release a black screen display for 5 minutes for free digitally and call it a game? because artists like painters and movie directors can show a black canvas or a 5 minute short film of just a black screen and call it "The Afterlife"

But If Kojima released a game for free that is just a black screen for 5 minutes and then it ends people would say "its not a game". Video games are not art.

Good! I didn't really think you were saying that.

Yes, some artist would call that art.  But it is a bit silly.