Why do gamers want games to be considered art?
Heres a reason: Art hold a hallowed place, not only in our culture, but in our legal system. Whether or not a work is obscene (and thus should be censored) or a provocative piece of art that demands we analyze our previously held convictions (and thus not to be censored) is a matter of judgments of artistic value.
Both Australian and American legal systems and classification systems privelige works which are considered artistic.
Ebert should also note that this discussion is happenning in the political context of a moral panic about the evil of video games. People that enjoy gaming as a hobby will want to stop games from being a victim of censorship and as such demand games receive the priveliged title of art.
I do not claim to be able to provide a definition of art and nor do I claim that Eberts case is stupid. He does make an important point; there is a legitimate distinction between a game (of any medium) and art per se. Blackjack is a game, but I wouldnt consider it art. Chess is a game, but the game itself is not art.
In and of itself, the fact that neither Blackjack nor Chess are art is not an attack on either hobby. Both can be deeply enjoyable, truly engrossing and entertaining. However, no one argues that Chess should be banned and most people in the civilized world tolerate Blackjack.
But video games are currently not classified as art, and far too many people are calling for video games to be forced to drink hemlock for the crime of corrupting the youth.
So, in other words, gamers want games to be considered art at least partly because their hobby is NOT considered socially legitimate and because (as such) it is seen as censorable. Im certainly not suggesting this is the only motivation gamers have, but it is clearly a motive.
I think another point Ebert raises is whether a work that incorporates various genres of art can in and of itself be called art. Lets take BioShock; you have architecture and interior design and the overall art direction of the City of Rapture (visual art), you have music (the soundtrack), and you have a narrative which makes intelligent commentary on the issue of choice in video games. No one would argue that any of these individual elements are less than artistic. The music is exceptionally moody, the setting is highly stylized Rand-esque Art-Deco and the narrative critiques its own medium.
As for the art direction itself, Im a Randian. The aesthetics of Rapture utterly nailed the embodiment of Randian ideals; man in ascendance etc. The setting and backstory are also a commentary on Objectivism; I dont entirely agree with the commentary (it assumes man is too flawed to consistently practice any ideal) but thats not the point. Commenting on serious ideas and being self-critical of ones own medium have been considered hallmarks of true art by many philosophers of aesthetics, and BioShocks narrative does both.
So, we have three elements which even Ebert wouldnt consider non-artistic; a medium-critical and philosophically involved narrative, dramatic and atmospheric music, and art-deco-style art direction.
BioShock merely presents these three elements through a game. It doesnt subtract anything from the three previous elements; it merely adds a game system through which the other elements are experienced.
Ebert wishes to conclude that Video games are not art. BioShock is a video game which includes indisputably artistic elements (as shown before). If confronted with BioShock, Ebert could only be correct if BioShock were not art. In order to argue that BioShock is not art, Ebert would have to embrace the following premise;
1) The presentation of artistic things (art direction, music, narrative) through a non-artistic framing device (such as a game) instantly renders the product as a whole non-art.
I would argue that this premise is at the very least a questionable one. It requires the mode of presentation to nullify the artistic value of the content.
Finally, and most importantly, I wish to bring some historical evidence to bear; the printing press wasnt originally seen as a tool of art. The cinema wasnt either; originally it was used as a news delivery service. The television was seen as degenerate. Rock music was originally seen as satanic and savage. Comic books were once seen as seducing the innocent.
All of these media are now considered forms of art.
I am not arguing that it is impossible to define art and I am not accusing Ebert of having malicious intent here, but I think that the popular understanding of art is more often a result of politics than anything else. It is a result of fears of new media forms (from both anti-modernity politicians and old media desperate to guard their priveliged positions in existing social institutions), moral panics, cries for censorship, followed by everyone finally realizing a new form of experience-delivery isnt going to destroy society.
This pattern has repeated itself over and over throughout human history. I do not see how this time will be any different. It is only a matter of time before video games are regarded as another art form.