Video Games as Art:
A Look at Video Games Through Contemporary Revisionist Art History
By Stefano Ballesteros
Introduction
Over forty years ago, a small company called Atari Incorporated marketed an arcade game
named PONG. Its immediate success led to the creation of home versions of the game; this
transition from the large arcade machines of the 1970s and 80s to the small home
entertainment systems triggered a revolution. Today, video games constitute a multi-billion
dollar industry, what Adam Thierer, Director of the Center for Digital Media Freedom, The
Progress & Freedom Foundation called “part of the fabric of American society. [Video
games] are a growing force in our multi-media landscape and our broader economy,” (p.
106). The evolving complexity and presence of video games in contemporary society have
even caused controversy, raising a series of cases heard by state courts and the U.S. Supreme
Court, which ruled that video games fall under the protection of the First Amendment like
other forms of art (Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn.). The law classifies video
games in the same category of plays, film, literature, and art. But that is just what politicians
and lawyers have to say on the matter. We cannot simply let them dictate what is and what is
not art. What would Ai Weiwei say?
Lets take a more academic approach to this question. Video games have found themselves at
the center of controversy. Their growing popularity certainly makes them an industry to be
reckoned with, and they have engrained themselves as a part of global culture. From
Facebook and mobile games like Candy Crush, to classic games like Mario Bros., visually
aesthetic experiences like Flower, and complex narratives about political issues like Metal Gear
Solid; video games are a phenomena that has engages players in interactive experiences. The
debate rages on, as some people consider video games to be simply an elaborate form of
entertainment, some think of them as a danger to children and society due to their violent
content, but as video games evolve through the incorporation of more advanced technology,
so does their acceptance as art objects.
In 2012, the Smithsonian opened “The Art of Video Games,” a special exhibition featuring
over eighty video game titles that celebrate forty years of history of video games. Chris
Melissinos, the curator of the exhibition, compares video games to other art forms,
explaining that in other mediums everything is laid out for the viewer without the
opportunity to discover new things. “Video games are the only forms of artistic expression
that allow the authoritative voice of the author to remain true while allowing the observer to
explore and experiment.” Video games can inspire the player; make them feel guilt, remorse,
sympathy, not only for the characters, but for themselves as they are taking control of the
characters. The player can be transformed through this interactive experience (Tucker).
In 2014, MoMA began a project to preserve, study, and exhibit video games as part of their
Architecture and Design permanent collection. Paola Antonelli is the senior curator for the
collection which has sparked a heated debate ever since. She believes video games are not
only art, but also design. This dual approach to the medium was taken to build and arrange
the MoMA exhibit. A select team of historians, critics, scholars and experts agreed on criteria
to determine which games would be introduced to the collection. The verdict resulted in 40
games, of which 14 were introduced during its first year and 7 more in 2013. Antonelli takes
into consideration cultural relevance, aesthetic expression, functional and structural
soundness, and innovative approaches to technology and behavior, successful synthesis of
materials and techniques in achieving the goal set by the initial program. This is the same
criteria other pieces at MoMA are judged by. There is no surprised these video games passed
the test. The collection presents the video games to visitors, allowing them to play the games
and become an active participant of this installation (Antonelli).
The Discourse of Video Games as Art
The understanding of video games as art starts by asking the question: “what is art?” This
will determine the parameters of this paper. Without a working definition of art, it will be
impossible to analyze video games in the context of art and answer the question addressed
by the paper. This must be made from a conceptual approach looking at video games from
the lens of revisionist art history. Through a more revisionist than traditionalist approach, it
will be possible to see how art forms that were previously ignored, and mediums that were
shunned out of the mainstream canon of art history found their place amongst the more
celebrated disciplines. Pop Art is a movement that showed similar ideas and themes as video
games. They both work with popular culture and strive for a popular appeal. Both have their
origins around new technologies, are inspired by movies, science fiction, and mass
communication. Looking, video games are fighting today the battle pop art fought half a
century years ago. Pop art was considered commercial, non-art, and an expression of lowculture. Critics even thought it lacked social and political commentary. Dempsey quotes
critic Max Kozloff on Pop Art being a combination of glamourized themes of sex, crime,
and violence- a critique that is no stranger to the video game community. Ultimately this
gave the movement an “insurrectionary value” which won him over (Dempsey, 217-20).
Video games find themselves surrounded by the same discourse of crime, sex, and violence,
with critics like Jonathan Jones, who writes for the Guardian. Jones has adamantly
condemned the decision of the MoMA to add a series of iconic video games to its
permanent collection (Jones). Perhaps, like Kozloff, all Jones needs is time.
Throughout this paper, I will explore video games as an expression of art based on three
specific approaches. First, I will address video games as a collaborative art form that makes
use of new technologies as a platform for traditional art and the multimedia holistic
approach of artists in the medium. Second, I will take on video games as a digital interactive
installation, which bridges the gap between artists (developer) and viewer (gamer). Finally, I
will address the power of video games to explore present political, social, and cultural issues
through their ability to immerse the player into their narrative, gameplay, and aesthetics.
There is a particular challenge to address this topic in an academic context since video games
as art is still a contested topic. With the MoMA’s 2012 exhibit taking the most progressive
steps, and art critics openly speaking against that decision, a favorable exploration of this
topic cannot be found in mainstream academic journals and publications. Therefore, as the
discourse of video games as art falls into the criticism of mainstream critics like the
Guardian’s Jonathan Jones, our only approach to this topic is a revisionist look through the
eyes of people who are better known by their Youtube username than their actual name;
journalists like Naomi Kyle and Steve Butts at ign.com and Stephen Totilo at Kotaku, video
game critics like Tycho from Penny Arcade, Jon Jafari (Jontron) from Game Grumps, and
game commentators such as John Bain (TotalBiscuit). These people are experts on the
subject in their own right, they drive the industry as its most influential critics, and lead the
discourse of video games in an appropriate forum for the medium. Video games present a
challenge to the canon of art history. It is no surprise that those who lead the conversation
on this art form, also exist outside the traditional expectations of art history. In order to give
video games the opportunity to be considered art in the wake of new technologies and new
media, it is important to address those who speak for video games in the new media.
New Technology in Art
New technologies have always had a strong impact on art. From developing new techniques,
to making new mediums available, new inventions have opened new horizons for the
exploration of art and have challenged the limits of our creative expression, and therefore of
what we understand as art. Works like Warhol’s mass-produced prints, Paik’s video, or Ai
Weiwei’s Moon would have been impossible, even ludicrous years before their time. The
advent of computers and the digital era has brought technological advancements faster than
we can make fully understand them. Even the way we approach the most basic daily rituals
would have been unconceivable twenty years ago. There has not been a change as drastically
as this since the industrial revolution. The digital revolution has created new realms in which
we can create art. Through the use of computers we are able to work on digital canvases,
sculpt virtual clay, and even build digital spaces. There is no limit to the worlds and ideas we
can manifest through the use of computers. Digital art is a medium, and most design and
commercial art today is made digitally. An experienced digital artist is able to create a
painting in a computer that would be indistinguishable from one created with a brush on
canvas.
Digital canvases allow artists to work on a completely integrated multidisciplinary framework
that has been essential in the production of modern video games. Modern video games
incorporate multiple art disciplines. For developer Mike Mika, video games exist where
mathematics, science, writing, music, and art converge. Video games are the sum of all these
parts plus one key element: the player. It is the human interface that makes the game an
expression of art, what bring the whole thing to life. Video games require that human
element and interaction that keeps transforming the experience as the user plays the game.
This symbiotic connection sets apart video games from other mediums, as they evolve with
the player (Melissinos, 11).
Assassin’s Creed is a game series that has pushed the limits of creating digital spaces. Over its
many installments, the series has taken players to masterfully recreated historical settings
such as 13th century Middle East, Renaissance Italy, Colonial America, and Paris during the
French Revolution. The series is a testament to the incorporation of tradition art forms in
video games on a formal approach. This alternate history game tells us the story of a
millennia-long conflict between a two shadow factions: Assassins and Templars. Assassin’s
Creed II (2009) takes place in Renaissance Italy, where the player takes control of Ezio
Auditore, a young man that is caught in the middle of this age-long conflict. The game is
inspired on historical events and places, and for this purpose recreations of Italian cities in
the 15th Century were built in this digital space. The development team, which included
designers, architects, painters, and sculptors, built replicas of Florence and other cities with
which the player can interact and do everything from running through a crowded street,
jump off the Ponte Veccio, or climb over the dome of the Florence Cathedral (Totilo).
This game gives the player the opportunity to visit historical locations and be part of
historical events. A player is able to walk in and around- and even climb- historical sites such
as Notre Dame cathedral in Paris (fig.2). But what adds an extra layer to the experience is
that since these games are period pieces, the designers recreated these locations as they
would have existed during the time period. The player is able to take an interactive trip to the
past and immerse him or herself in places that have been lost or ravaged by modernity.
Nicolas Guerin, game world design director for Assassin’s Creed: Unity (2014), was charged
with the task of recreating Paris during the late 18th century. His team travelled to France to
study and reference the city, which would be later recreated in full detail for the game.
However, Guerin and his team were not only focused on building landmarks, but also to
replicate the essence of a city which built up to one of the most violent and influential
moments in history. However, Guerin and his team faced challenges when it came to
recreating Paris and had to work from historical records to recreate buildings that no longer
exist such as la Bastille, the Tuileries Palace, and the Bièvre River. This by itself is a
remarkable feat which provides us with a virtual model of a city and locations that have been
lost to time, but what is most exhilarating is the opportunity the players have at exploring
these locations as they existed more than 200 years ago. The Assassin’s Creed games allow
the player to roam to their full contempt every inch, every nook and carney, every street, and
every rooftop of these historical locations (Stark).
Video Games as Virtual Installation Art
Installations are able to place the viewer within the work, and make them experience artwork
in a uniquely personal way. Dempsey describes installations as being catalysts for new ideas.
Installation connects artist and viewer to build a unique exchange of ideas and experiences.
Installation pieces incorporated video art as the technology became available to artists.
Today the new technology is the digital canvas, and video games serve as virtual installations,
in which the viewer becomes the player. The interaction of artist and viewer now is carried
out between the developer and the player. Players are able to experience the game through
interacting with the game on different levels such as completing challenges, navigating
scenarios, or engaging with an interactive narrative. That is the core mechanic of modern
video games: the player is placed in an interactive environment where they form an active
part of the game. The role of the artist is the same in both settings: they construct a space or
situation with which the visitor interacts. This is the same kind of interaction a visitor has
with an installation, except it happens in a virtual environment (Dempsey, 247).
Enrico Nadelli explores the dialogue between computing and art. He elaborates on digital
art, explaining that digital video and music are not conventionally considered in this category
because they lack the interactive component. However, when user interaction is
incorporated into video animation, music, and other digital mediums, these become
interactive digital art. This is the exact nature of video games, and the unique quality they
have at not making the player only a participant on the virtual installation, but they turn the
player into artist as they interact with the game and create a unique experience (Nadelli, 43).
One of the games which provides an immense level of player interaction is Markus
“Notch” Persson’s Minecraft (2009). Persson is more commonly known as Notch and is the
co-founder of the game studio Mojang. Minecraft has achieved international renown due to its
innovative and versatile gameplay. It is an example of games not relying on super-realism
visuals or complex narrative to be a successful engaging experience. The premise is simple:
the player is set loose in a randomly generated environment where he or she can collect
different resources to build structures (fig. 3). Each resource is ruled by different sets of
mechanics, which allow for variety in construction. The world is divided in a threedimensional grid, breaking down every aspect of it into cubes. So whenever the player
collects a resource or builds something, he or she is doing it on a magnitude of one cubic
unit. These mechanics are so simple that the player is able to create extremely complex
structures. This game gives complete control of the experience to the player. It is what is
known as a sandbox building game; the player is set free in an open environment to interact
with the different elements as he or she pleases. Here, the developers present the player with
a medium to work with, in doing so, they turn the player into the artist.
Anthony Gallegos, editor of ign.com, explains how the character and the entire
world evolve into whatever the player wants it to be. Through this game the player is able to
tell his or her own stories, write his or her own destiny, and create his or her own fantasy.
The game echoes the evolution of civilization as the player first must build a shelter out of
the most rudimentary materials and craft items for his or her survival. Eventually when all
those needs are met, the player can take the time to create more superfluous pieces. Slowly,
the player begins to build not for a need of survival, but for the pleasure of completing
personal projects and see how far they can shape the world around them. With more and
more complex crafting materials and components, Minecraft takes the player from the Stone
Age to the 20th Century (Gallegos).
Minecraft was part of the video game collection featured in the Smithsonian American
Art Museum’s “The Art of Video Games” exhibition in 2012 and was included in the
MoMA’s permanent Architecture and Design Collection in 2013. Minecraft revolutionized
video games because it gave the player the ability to shape the world around him or her. It is
a great example of video games as an interactive form of installation art in a digital
environment as it forces the player to become the artist by setting him or her lose on a
randomly generated world that can be completely reshaped in any way he or she desires (fig.
4).
Video Games Addressing Current Issues
Technological improvements in the past fifteen years have allowed for more
complex gameplay and narratives in video games. Artists are able to communicate issues of
social, cultural, and political importance through games as a form of artistic expression. In
the beginning years of the industry, video games featured simple contests of skill between
players or between a player and the system. A game that would involve dialogue to engage
the player was a rare and revolutionary concept. But with time- not too much time- video
games began to engage players through videos and dialogue. As the methods of narrative
became more complex, so did the characters and stories that were presented. The players
began to be confronted with experiences that addressed themes of deep moral, intellectual,
and spiritual reflection.
Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series is a complex and in-depth analysis of war
and those involved in it. In contrast to many other games out there, this title does not glorify
or promote war, but instead confronts the player with moral questions that make us rethink
contemporary war. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) is the epic finale of this
twenty-year-long complex narrative, dealing with a great number of themes and metaphors.
It thickly interweaves themes such as the economy of war, ongoing conflict, the role of
science in war, and the toll that time takes on the body and mind. The game tells the story of
Solid Snake, a soldier who is a product of the Cold War, and after years of fighting is
struggling to find his place in a world in which war has been commoditized and
computerized. This character serves as a lens through which the player is forced to ask
difficult questions about the nature and necessity of war and the social, moral, and political
implications of modern warfare through its implementation of new technologies. The saga is
an exploration of the evolution of our understanding of war from the Cold War, evolving
through the contemporary War on Terror, and exploring a near-future where war is waged
through corporate private military contractors (Michael McWhertot).
Hideo Kojima explains how he tries to bring real life issues to the forefront through
video games, purposefully dealing with delicate issues and taboo. He creates an experience
that combines narrative with real world events and media such as his use of the Cold War as
the setting in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) and his use of historical footage from the
Cuban Missile Crisis and the incorporation of recreated conversations between Lyndon B.
Johnson and Nikita Khrushchev. Metal Gear Solid (1998) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
(2001) was included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “The Art of Video Games”
exhibition in 2012 (Thomsen).
Conclusion
Video games stand at the fringe of entertainment and art form. This is party a
consequence of the responsibility placed in the viewer or player. Video games offer the most
interactive artistic experience in any contemporary medium, with the liberty to experience
the full work independently. At the same time video games present a great distance from
creator and player. Vast teams of artists build these experiences to leave them in the hands
of the players. However, this is the greatest artistic aspect of video games: they require a
player to complete the experience. Without the player, the game is unable to tell a story, to
complete a challenge, or to make a statement. It is the player who completes the work by
interacting with it.
Chris Melissinos, video game designer, curator of the Smithsonian “The Art of
Video Games” exhibition, and author, defines art as an action that is achieved when the
viewer understands the artist’s intent and finds something in the work that resonates with
him or her on a personal level. This emotion has been achieved through video games since
their inception in both a personal and globally connected manner. Although some games are
only meant to entertain, distract, or produce an adrenaline rush on the player, there is a great
number of games that force players to face difficult moral questions, make statements about
relevant issues, and affect players through the use of music, visuals, and narrative, and
interaction. These games are capable of evoking great emotion in the players, as they invest
themselves thoroughly in the complex interactive experience of the game. The player
becomes more engaged by this art form than any other due to the immersive nature of the
work. This unique depth is achieved through the multidisciplinary nature of video games,
which create a new and unique medium through a combination of art disciplines whose sum
is greater than the individual parts that conform it (Melissinos, 8).
Video games have the potential to be the most comprehensive storytelling medium
and one of the most powerful art forms because of their unmatched interactive nature and
unique ability to engage the player not only as a viewer, but as part of the art itself. This is a
bold statement, however video games are works of art that are able to make the player be a
part of the experience by interacting with the game and in some occasions other players as
well. In this way video games function as a multimedia interdisciplinary digital installation.
But they do something physical installations are unable to do: they absorb the player and
transform him or her into a piece of itself. When an installation is able to engage the viewer
as an active part of the message or experience, a video game transforms the player into the
central element of the work: the character. Installations engage viewers to interact with the
work, highlighting the message the artist is trying to convey through participation in the
piece. Video games not only engage the player, but rather transform him or her as they
interact with the work. Here lies the true power of this art form. A player not only sees a
series of events unravel, but rather exists at the center. When a viewer sees Picasso’s Guernica
(fig. 9), he or she might be faced with the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, when someone
walks through the porcelain soldiers of Bouke de Vries’s installation War and Pieces (fig. 8),
they may feel the strange dichotomy of the beautiful figures locked in terrible combat, but
these pale in comparison to the emotional, moral, and intellectual response that can be
achieved after a player puts him or herself in the role of Solid Snake in Kojima’s Metal Gear
Solid series and takes an interactive role in a story that spans forty years of war (fig. 7). The
player is not merely seeing these events unfold before his or her eyes, but is a part of them,
not only does the player sees them through the eyes of the character, but becomes the
character; his story becomes the player’s story. The message reaches the viewer at a much
more personal level than in any other art form. Please note that his statement is not meant to
discredit or disrespect the great artists that have impacted the world with their art, but
merely to contrast the limitations of their medium. It is also important to note that as with
any other art form, not everybody that engages with it will be affected on the same level. As
any other art form, the viewer must be educated and exposed to the art itself and engage it
with an objective intellectual curiosity.
Video games have the power to evoke the most powerful emotions, reflections, and
experiences simply because of their holistic approach to creating an experience and the
unique ability to immerse the player in an unmatched interactive experience. Through this
experience, a skillful artist is capable of conveying a compelling message. We live in a time in
which the physical and the digital intertwine to shape our everyday reality. Video games are
the representative art form of that reality, bringing together the digital environment and the
physical player in order to convey powerful messages in the voice of a new generation of
artists and viewers.
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Illustrations
Fig. 1. Ezio is perched on a rooftop admiring the dome of the Florence Cathedral. Patrice Désilets,
Assassin’s Creed 2 (2009)- http://blog.gaming.stackexchange.com/2011/06/assassins-creed-2/
Fig. 2. Notre Dame Cathedral in the recreated Paris in Assassin’s Creed Unity. Alexandre Amanico,
Assassin’s Creed Unity (2014)- http://mashable.com/2014/11/11/history-paris-assassins-creed/
Fig. 3. A player is set free in a randomly generated world full of natural resources in Markus “Notch”
Persson’s Minecraft (2009)- http://kotaku.com/5655720/surviving-your-first-day-and-night-in-minecraft
Fig. 4. A player’s creation using the variety of resources offered in the game. Markus “Notch” Persson.
Minecraft (2009)- http://www.businessinsider.com.au/amazing-things-people-made-in-minecraft-20149#the-golden-city-isnt-based-on-anything-in-reality-but-it-does-show-just-how-creative-people-can-get-inthe-game-note-the-flying-airship-3
Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid (1998)- http://www.primagames.com/games/metal-gear-solid-groundzeroes/feature/10-greatest-bosses-metal-gear-solid-history-and-how-beat-them
Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)- http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=16631
Fig. 7. Solid Snake visits his mentor’s tomb as he struggles to understand a soldier’s place in a world of
peace in the final scene of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid 4:
Guns of the Patriots (2008)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMk0eoySP9E
Fig. 8. Bouke de Vries, War and Pieces (2014)http://www.alnwickcastle.com/events/80/war-and-pieces-art-installation
Fig. 9. Pablo Picasso, Guernica (1937)- http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp#prettyPhoto