Play on Meaning? – Computer games as art.

Article by Edward Picot.
http://www.furtherfield.org/displayreview.php?review_id=345

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Samorost 2 by Amanita Design
The Graveyard by Tale of Tales
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Edward Picot discusses the controversies that arise when computer games meet artistic purpose. Taking us through a detailed analysis of some emblematic examples of computer games that slip into the realm of art, he unfolds the strategies, motivations and critical issues.

Computer games enjoy a special position in the canon of new media art. One of the most distinctive features of new media is its interactivity, and because computer games are inherently interactive they have always attracted a good deal of attention from new media theoreticians. They seem to offer the opportunity to create art forms which are participative rather than dictatorial in structure, and thus to redefine the relationship between artist and audience. No longer will audience-members simply act as passive recipients of whatever the artist chooses to put in front of them: instead, through their interactivity, they will become co-creators.

This article is co-published by Furtherfield.org (www.furtherfield.org) and The Hyperliterature Exchange (http://hyperex.co.uk).