Today we need to:
- Twitter 101
- Talk about Ebert
- Talk about games and the Canon
- Provide preface to Aristotle’s Poetics
- Introduce Google Docs for the Gaming Journal
Twitter 101
The #, the @, and the DM
Ebert: Focusing on his Argument
I am interested to see how you react to the Ebert piece and to his definition of art. I particularly want to pay attention to the following paragraph:
Plato, via Aristotle, believed art should be defined as the imitation of nature. Seneca and Cicero essentially agreed. Wikipedia believes “Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas…Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction.”
First, as I hope tonight’s reading suggests, the “imitation of nature” is a pretty impoverished way of summarizing Aristotle’s theory of art and/as mimesis. It is more complicated than that.
Second, notice how Ebert is essentially engaging in the kind of “is it a sport?” exercise we experimented with last class. He turns to Wikipedia to distinguish games from either work (utility) or art (expression). It is this second distinction that I believe we can productively problematize.
Here is another paragraph that is worthy of attention, especially if you are considering advocating for a narrative-driven game:
One obvious difference between art and games is that you can win a game. It has rules, points, objectives, and an outcome. Santiago might cite a immersive game without points or rules, but I would say then it ceases to be a game and becomes a representation of a story, a novel, a play, dance, a film. Those are things you cannot win; you can only experience them.
I have previously published articles that focus on the aesthetic/affective experience of playing particularly provocative/smart/disturbing games (using Freudian/Lacanian/feminist psychoanalytic theory to compare the rather normative Resident Evil series to the more disruptive Silent Hill series–in short, Silent Hill 2 is the greatest video game ever made).
One more passage:
Kellee Santiago has arrived at this point lacking a convincing definition of art. But is Plato’s any better? Does art grow better the more it imitates nature? My notion is that it grows better the more it improves or alters nature through an passage through what we might call the artist’s soul, or vision. Countless artists have drawn countless nudes. They are all working from nature. Some of there paintings are masterpieces, most are very bad indeed. How do we tell the difference? We know. It is a matter, yes, of taste.
Again, I think our reading (and my preface below) will show that this is an Aristotelian approach to art. And, again, it feels a bit impoverished because it does not theorize (explain, explicate, address, etc) what constitutes “nature” (hint, hint).
As far as Ebert’s second post–“Play on My Lawn”–I will address the point of linear vs. multi/hyper narrativity later in the course as we discuss Walking Dead and Dragon Age and games that do that special thing that I won’t talk about yet.
Towards a Canon of Games
Now I want you to tell me about games that would go in your canon (“the list of works considered to be permanently established as being of the highest quality”). What are the greats?
Here’s the rough draft of our list.
One thing that will come up: are you a populist or elitist?
Aristotle’s Poetics
A response to Plato’s critique of art. Shadows, caves, Idealism–oh my!
Recall from Ebert’s first post, Video Games Can Never Be Art, his summation of Herzog and cave paintings:
Herzog believes, in fact, that the paintings on the wall of the Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc in Southern France should only be looked at in the context of the shadows cast on those dark walls by the fires built behind the artists, which suggests the cave paintings, their materials of charcoal and ochre and all that went into them were the fruition of a long gestation, not the beginning of something–and that the artists were enormously gifted. They were great artists at that time, geniuses with nothing to build on, and were not in the process of becoming Michelangelo or anyone else. Any gifted artist will tell you how much he admires the “line” of those prehistoric drawers in the dark, and with what economy and wit they evoked the animals they lived among.
This is actually a playful reference to book seven of Plato’s Republic, in which Plato’s protagonist Socrates (not to be confused with the actually historic person Socrates) suggests that, compared to the rational, enlightened philosopher who basks in the light of the blinding sun, most people dwell in the depths of a dark cave, confusing mere shadows for truth and reality. This is the allegory of the cave.
So for Plato, the purpose of human life is to escape the darkness, to move toward the light. Rationality. Art (especially the poetic arts of Ancient Greece, which were predominantly mythic and theological) leads us away from the truth. It is deception, make-believe, a representation of the real world, a real world which itself is but a mere flawed copy of the transcendental Ideal realm–a realm beyond our material world of pure light/truth/divinity.
What does this have to do with Aristotle and video games? In short: Aristotle disagreed with his teacher regarding the value of art (he also didn’t really buy into this transcendental divine realm thing either, but that is another class). For homework, I would like you to read Aristotle’s Poetics, paying particular attention to the ways in which he defends art’s “usefulness.” Later generations of artists will reject this approach, arguing that the value of art lies in its opposition to utility. But that is yet another conversation for another day (probably some time next week).
Gaming Journal
Over the next few weeks I will ask you to play video games for homework. That’s a pretty awesome sentence.
I will also ask you to keep a reflective journal as you play. Whether you are playing for the first time or revisiting a game you have played before, you will want to keep a journal that catalogue’s your thoughts on a game. Additionally, you should use the journal to record links to screen shots, ideas re: the aesthetic theories we discuss in class, links to articles/discussions of your game, or anything else that might contribute to your first project.
I will ask you to do this in Google Docs, and to share the Doc with me. My email address is insignificantwrangler@gmail.com. We will set this up in class today (Thursday).
Homework
- Read sections from Aristotle’s Poetics [distributed via PDF]
- Pay attention to two terms/concepts: mimesis and catharsis
- Identify the game for your first project. Play the game for at least 45 minutes. Then spend 15 minutes writing about the game in your Game Journal
- Tweet something interesting with the hashtag #enc3435
Also, remember that Steam is having a super sale on Walking Dead until Friday. You can also buy the game for iPad and iPhone through the Apple Store.
