Is D&D Art?

[Ahnehnois]

The question doesn't refer to the snazzy pictures on the cover of your D&D books or your wall full of D&D branded novels, I'm asking this:

*When you play D&D, are you creating art?*

I offer the following definition, but feel free to use your own:

the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects; also: works so produced

Caveats:

*If you say yes, that doesn't necessarily indicate that all D&D is great art, merely that it generally meets the basic definition.
For instance, a choral student practicing alone, a busker on the streets of New Orleans, a drunk college student chanting a school anthem, and Lady Gaga performing at a stadium are all doing very different things, some perhaps of more artistic merit than others, but singing is pretty definitively an art.

*If you say no, it doesn't indicate that D&D is completely devoid of artistry or aesthetic quality.
For example, some soccer (football) players are renowned for their creative and aesthetically pleasing play (the "beautiful game"), but soccer is a game, not an art.

***

This is a bit of a spiritual sequel to the Is D&D "about" combat thread, and is likewise an attempt to assess people's immediate gut reactions and analyze from there out. I was already considering the topic, but posts like this pushed me to do it:

I think this, right here, nails where my disagreement comes. I'm not really sure that D&D is about producing anything that can be evaluated in aesthetic terms. Yes, that might roll out of play, but, that's a by product, not the purpose.

***

Obviously, this is an opinion question.

I'll likely post my own answer later.

 

[Stormonu]

Quite simply, no. I'm just playing a game.

 

[AeroDm]

I responded 'no' because my goal while gaming is to have fun with friends, not create something of artistic value. However, D&D is the way in which I artistically express myself.

 

[shipratstew]

I would say yes its an art form, afteral l its just extended creative writing. On the other hand I don't play to create a work of art, so d&d is an unintentional piece of spontaneous group art.

sent from my Android phone

 

[Hussar]

Well, since that's me being quoted in the OP, I'm going to go with no.

Yes, stories come out of playing D&D. And it is possible to play that way. But, for me, I am with Stormonu on this, I play D&D to play a game.

If I want to play something where I'm creating stories, I'd rather choose a system without quite so many fiddly bits wrt combat and other non-essentials. To me, D&D is about playing D&D.

 

[JoesephBear]

I vote yes.

Famously, Record of Lodoss War started as a Replay (a recorded game transcript) of a D&D game in 1986. It was published in the japanese magazine Comptiq.

Replays do have their niche market even today. Not quite novels, they are simply transcripts of what went on in the game that others read for entertainment.

I think this is evidence that playing the game creates art.

 

[gamerprinter]

Basically D&D is just a game. However, if the DM created the adventure on his own, it could be considered creative writing. And with proper roleplaying it could be considered a performance art with a very limited audience - as in all the actors include the GM and the players, as well as an audience of the GM and players, since it happens that the GM doesn't necessarily know what the players will do or say.

Beyond that, its just a game.

 

[Kaodi]

There is no way in which D&D is art. There may be elements that are artistic, but the whole is not compatible with art because the mechanic elements are cannot be described having art as their product, and that product is integral to what D&D is.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I voted no. But its not a hard no.

Someone who is an artist in the Marcel Duchamp's mode- using found objects as art, like his Urinal- may well present D&D books as art in some way, but it would be a stretch even so. And even though I agree that Duchamp was correct in his artistic statement with Urinal, I don't think even he would attempt it.

Ditto a performance artist. For it to be performance art, the artist would probably be delivering something beyond a mundane game of D&D as art, some additional message beyond the mere gameplay. So again, probably not.

But I'm open to the possibility that someone could indeed find a way to present the game and its play as art in some way. The closest I've seen personally was an episode of Community.

 

[Pentius]

Well, going by Roger Ebert's standard:

"do we as their consumers become more or less complex, thoughtful, insightful, witty, empathetic, intelligent, philosophical (and so on) by experiencing them?"

Then yes, absolutely.