"Games can be construed natively as art, within the communities of practice and even the industry of games, rather than by pledging fealty to the fine art kingdom" (11). This quote really stood out to me. As a fine arts major I can see both sides to this argument of whether video games are considered art. I truly believe that in time, video games will be featured in galleries and art history courses of the 21st century. When certain art movements came about, the art world didn't immediately recognize it as art. Even though Dadaists considered their art to be art, other artists and the art world at the time were very skeptical. Last summer I went to an exhibit at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. The exhibit was dedicate to the progression of art in video games. From ground breaking side scroller games to the latest in 3d graphics, they featured many games from each console that stood out and made progress for the art aspect of gaming. So already games are beginning to be considered art by other industries and hopefully in good time the art world will consider it themselves.
This argument immediately made me think of another argument in the world of books and novels. In the last several years, young adult books have struggled to be recognized as profound books that students should be reading in schools. YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, makes a very good argument for why Young Adult novels should be read in classrooms. According to the article, in 2012, high school students are only reading at a 5th grade level, and that's just sad. I remember all throughout high school, my peers didn't like reading, at all. But based on the books we read in high school, I don't blame them. Yes they are classics and teaching us lessons or whatever they are trying to do, but why can't more recent books do the same thing? As an avid reader myself, I truly think that my peers would enjoy reading if they found books they liked instead of being forced books they don't like. They are forced to read books that are boring to them and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. This article states that, "Teens, like most readers, appreciate characters and situation that are familiar to them and their lives. Readers have a stronger connection to the text when they can see themselves and their struggles in the story." I can't see myself struggling through a Puritan town like in the Scarlett Letter. Are there really no other books that can teach the same lessons? Many young adult novels are being banned from schools which makes readers and authors very frustrated with they way their award winning books are treated in these school system. After another school district banned his 2006 Printz Award winning book Looking for Alaska, the author John Green tweeted "Really disappointed that a school board would decide to remove my book based on excerpts instead of reading the book."
I find the argument for Young Adult novels in the classroom is the same as wanting video games to be considered as art. Like the quote from Bogost, readers and writers of YA novels, we considered them profound books that teens can learn from. Maybe they can even teach them more about these lessons we want them to learn than these other books we are forcing them to read do. And maybe these books will spark an interest in reading in students. The community accepts these books and librarians across the nation push these novels on teens while their teachers push them away. But as Bogost implies, as long as gamers and creators consider it art, then it is. We don't need to bother with the fine art world, they will make up their minds eventually. We can keep pushing but it might be better to just get more gamers and creators on board with art styles in video games rather than getting games displayed in galleries or taught in art classes.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/04/09/why-ya-in-the-classroom/
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