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Video Game Screenshots As Art

Posted by samzenpus on from the where's-the-burnout-gallery? dept.

bbretterson writes "A community writer on Bitmob recently stumbled across a website filled with hundreds of images that blur the line between video game screenshots and legitimate photography. Using screen capture software, Dead End Thrills frames shots in PC games that could hang on the wall of any SoHo gallery."

4 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. Probably not without any editting... by TheSambassador · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Are still frames from a movie (that someone else made) art? I'd probably argue not so much... it's the creation of somebody else. Now if you were able to edit those pictures in a way that communicates something, then maybe we can start talking.

    I'd say that taking a "cool looking" screenshot can't really be art in the sense that this article wants it to be. Sure, with video games you have a bit more freedom of where to "take your picture" from than you would with a film, but it's the same idea. That scene from Bioshock was created by the developers, and it's THEIR art, not somebody who's just found a cool place to take a shot. The developers set up the lighting, made the textures and models, and provided the entire atmosphere.

    Of course, once you get into modding and/or things like Gary's Mod, where you can actually create some really cool things, maybe those "screenshots" would be a bit closer to "art." But simply taking a cool screenshot of a game doesn't (IMO) constitute "art."

    1. Re:Probably not without any editting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      That's the same argument used against photography being art. You're capturing someone else's art, so your photograph isn't art.

      Yes, the game artists created the meshes, the light sources, the particle effects. The programmers built the game engine that puts those together. However, the game player actually gets a lot of say in the "still" image created just like a real-world photographer. Do I stand here or there to grab that image? Should I squat or stand on a garbage can or move something here I can stand on or use a cheat to turn off gravity and stand someplace impossible? Do I frame that mech with that rebar over there, or juxtapose it with a nearby tree? If I'm in an outdoor engine, do I wait for the right lighting and weather? Should I toss a grenade to get some smoke effects? Should I drag that dead body over there to get an emotional impact?

      If photography can be art, then I don't see why game screenshots can't be art. Just because someone else built the Eiffel Tower doesn't mean you can't create art with it. And just because the developers provided the virtual world doesn't mean you can't use them to create art. However, just as a snapshot of your cat fluffy isn't art, your screengrab of that teabagger isn't art either.

  2. Re:Artistic, perhaps. But art? No. by SleazyRidr · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, arranging dolls artistically could be considered art.

    The example shown above is basically just showing what a great job the game designers did, rather than adding anything of value.

    I see the artistic value in the old skool approach, we've had "Hey look, if you do this it looks like these two guys are doing it!" for as long as we've had screenshots.

    --
    Is 1563649 a prime number?
  3. Re:Artistic, perhaps. But art? No. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well now - this is where the discrepancies come in. I agree, what we've seen isn't exactly art, but that's not to say that if someone actually did pose something, that it couldn't be art?

    I mean, it's not like the artist invented a new colour or a new shape, he just put them together on a canvas to create art. It's not like the photographer crafted the bowl or the fruits, but when decoratively posed it can be understood as art. So where do we draw the line?

    There are artists who work just in a digital environment, making 3d models and working with lighting and textures to pull off some amazing stuff. Now some of those people work in the games industry. Suppose I took their work and posed it in something like Gary's Mod and took a well lined up screenshot. Is that not like putting a physical object somewhere and taking a picture?

    It's really difficult to define what would and wouldn't be art about it. I mean, if I were able to replicate the Mona Lisa, would my piece be considered art, despite the fact that none of it is of my own creativity? Does somethings originality determine its artistic value? Would 2 identical paintings on created opposite sides of the world not consider both to be artistic?

    This is not as clear cut as it seems.