180071 SE On Games (2024W)

Can games be art?
Art is exceptionally diverse. Classical examples such as sculpture, painting, music, dance, theater and film share little in common but are united by the fact that they can be sources of aesthetic value. Even within these categories, the kind of aesthetic value they provide varies. Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" are both examples of theatre, but their aesthetic character could not be more different.

Games are often described in aesthetic terms. Football is often referred to as "The Beautiful Game", Chess moves or games are often described as beautiful and video games are often lauded for their fantastic beauty. Is this merely loose talk or should it be taken literally? If games can be a source of aesthetic value, does that make them art?

If games are art, what parts of them are art and how are they artistic?
A video game might have beautiful scenery, a chess set might have well sculpted pieces and certain football players might be beautiful people, but this is different from saying that the play itself is beautiful. Can the play of games itself have artistic value, and if so, how?

In this course we will attempt to answer these (and other) questions by reading C. Thi Nguyen's recent book "Games: Agency as Art".
In this book, Nguyen argues that games can be art, and that games can have a unique type of aesthetic value, namely that of the exploration of agency. The book discuss the role of games (both physical and digital) in relation to agency, art, ethics and society.