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[shrimp]

I was on holiday in Slovenia recently and thought this exhibition would be rather amusing, in light of the perennial games-as-art debate. It turned out it was fairly inoffensive after all, and had a nice room of enormous Shadow of the Colossus images and a looping video. Maybe not quite entertaining enough for the ~3 euro entry fee, but nicely presented...

It was also nice to see Aquaria and Crayon Physics in amongst the mainstream stuff:



The shots seemed slightly weirdly-chosen. I don't know if they took these screengrabs themselves or if they're just publicity shots off the web. Most of the trailers on the big screens had the GameTrailers intro and logo 

[Craig Stern]

Not that I'd ever expect Derek or Petri Purho to sue over it, but Jesus H. Christ is that ever flagrant copyright infringement.

EDIT: Ah--I misunderstood the nature of the event. From the title, I thought this was people taking screenshots and then exhibiting them as their own creative works, sort of like taking a picture of a painting and hanging it in a gallery. But it looks like this is really just an educational thing. That at least arguably is fair use.

[muku]

Braid should have been in there. (Or was it?)

[mark]

Braid should have been in there. (Or was it?)

Wouldn't Braid need to be at the "Screenshots of artgames as art" show?

[Fuzz]

This exhibit sounds unnecessarily pretentious and gratuitous.

[jeb]

Dyson!

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

This exhibit sounds unnecessarily pretentious and gratuitous.

how?

[shrimp]

Braid wasn't there, although I agree that it should have been. I mean that in a nice way! As should Dyson, and tons of other indie stuff!

The selection of games and of shots from games was pretty odd and occasionally for deliberate irony or maybe comic effect. Like Bikini Karate Babes. Right. Gears of War. Hmm.

The most pretentious thing about it is that text on the website (and also the same thing in leaflets), I was actually hoping for an enraging experience but was let down

Copyright - they did have "(C) Core Design" etc. It did seem pretty bizarre though. They also had "No photography" signs, but I reckon I can claim "fair use" 

[Valter]

This exhibit sounds unnecessarily pretentious and gratuitous.

how?

Because you shouldn't be able to capture the art of a game in a still screenshot. It's the flow and motion of the game that should define it as art.

[Fuzz]

This exhibit sounds unnecessarily pretentious and gratuitous.

how?

Because you shouldn't be able to capture the art of a game in a still screenshot. It's the flow and motion of the game that should define it as art.

Exactly. If anything is it art, it's the game itself, in motion, not a still screenshot from it. It may have a nice composition but it will never have the intentional composition of a work of art. That description also really rubbed me the wrong way.

[Mipe]

Um.

Okay, so taking photographs of real life (nature, people, traffic etc.) is not an art?

[Gnarf]

Maybe it's photography. Let's ask mom and dad.

[Valter]

Perhaps it is, Mipey, but in the case of a photo, it would be even better to go to the place that the photo was taken and experience it for yourself. Photos and screenshots from video games remove the interaction that might make those photos/screenshots relevant or interesting to begin with.

 

[Mipe]

So I took a photo of a goat humping a dog. I didn't take part of it, no interaction at all (honest  ).

Most photographers don't interact with their subjects. People who observe a photograph may not interact with the subject, but they see it nonetheless. A screenshot is pretty much a photo of an in-game situation. In either case, the viewer was not there, but the photographer/screenshotter.

Calling one art and other not art is kinda silly, since they're practically the same. You can capture an incredible moment in the life and woo the ladies. You can do the same with a screenshot; capture an incredible moment and woo the lady geeks.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

This exhibit sounds unnecessarily pretentious and gratuitous.

how?

Because you shouldn't be able to capture the art of a game in a still screenshot. It's the flow and motion of the game that should define it as art.

Exactly. If anything is it art, it's the game itself, in motion, not a still screenshot from it. It may have a nice composition but it will never have the intentional composition of a work of art. That description also really rubbed me the wrong way.

This makes no sense to me. I can understand that you may lose a lot when you take a screenshot, but screenshots of games have an artistic element, just as character design sketches for a game are. Also I don't understand, even if you lost everything and there was absolutely nothing artistic about screenshots, how it's *pretentious* to show screenshots of a game. I think you're using that word incorrectly: what exactly are they pretending? They're pretending screenshots are art, or what?

[Gnarf]

Also I don't understand, even if you lost everything and there was absolutely nothing artistic about screenshots, how it's *pretentious* to show screenshots of a game.

You don't understand how exhibiting something with no artistic value in the International Centre of Graphic Arts could possibly be considered pretentious?

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

What is the International Centre of Graphic Arts? I don't know what it is. Is it some prestigious show or something?

[Mipe]

Anything is considered art as long as you call it art. Some painter dude just drops a single drop of paint onto huge canvas and calls it art, earning thousands of bucks, not to mention academic praise. A baby who just got a hold of an open bucket of paint would have done better.

It is sad how this academic elite only considers stuff done by their acquaintances 'true art', while amateurs are being frowned upon on all fronts. It just boils my blood. Thousands for a lame painting, while the guy on street earns bugger all for his awesome portraits.

So, yeah, I just settle it with broad statement: any non-typical expression is art. Typical expression is "Tea is hot", artistic expression would be an ode about hot tea, a painting expressing extreme pain of the burn felt with tongue etc... you get the idea.

Screenshot of a game is an expression as well - it says "I picked this particular moment in the game for a certain reason." Photography is the same; it wants to show rather than tell, it captures a precious moment that is then eternal. All art has some sort of meaning, even the totally random crap, it just says that the artist wanted to break out of tedium of predictability or whatever.

Whoa, whoa, I'm getting sidetracked... I'll just go over there for a cup of painfully hot tea.

Unrelated P.S.: Hot drinks increase chance of throat cancer. True story.

[Gnarf]

What is the International Centre of Graphic Arts?

http://www.mglc-lj.si/
http://www.visitljubljana.si/en/ljubljana_and_more/essentials/tourist-database/75993/detail.html

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I could find it via Google too, but I was really asking is:

- is it a well-known show? Does it feature famous prestigious artists like, uh, I don't know who is popular in art circles right now, except that it's not Kinkade.

- or is it a just for fun thing, where a screenshots collection wouldn't be out of place, with a bunch of art students or something attending it?

Cause I can see the first as pretentious, but the second could be just some people having fun.