State of the "Art"

[Adrianis]

Out of interest, and I apologise if this has already been answered but you'll forgive me for not reading every line written here, do you guys feel that you can put a concrete definition of what 'Art' is, at least to you?

I mean, you are both making assertions as to whether games are or are not art, whether parts of a game are, such as specific character models in the case of Silent Hill, or certain moments like in The Line, and talking about games meeting certain 'landmarks' for being art.

For me personally, in order to make an assertion like that, I would want to be certain of my definition of what the 'thing' is that I am saying a topic meets or does not meet the definition of that 'thing'. In the case of Art I've just given up altogether trying to define it because it's such a nebulous concept, and therefore I just don't class things as art or not art.

However, you clearly both have put an awful lot more time into the concept of Art than I have, so I'd love to hear you're definition if you have one. What is Art? Why do some games meet, or not meet that status of Art? What are the landmarks for a game to become Art?


P.S. I lament the lack of an option for the Poll along the lines of "It's all good, whats the big deal"