“Games are about doing, games are about solving problems, accomplishing goals. And moreover, stories make the process of remember and explaining present to consciousness. It´s not just that we use stories to indulge our desire, to observe the behavior of other humans and think about their motivations and analyze their social behavior, and use language to describe it, literature also allows us to become aware of the desire and the use of language and go deeper and deeper into it and simultaneously step outside of it, and observe it. And paintings and sculptures make the act of looking and interpreting, this cognitive process that is an enormous aspect of consciousness that is not normally visible to us, they make this act itself visible. We go deeper and deeper into looking but also step briefly out of it and become more aware of it. And games do this for thought – and effort – and the accomplishment of goals. And applying thought and effort for accomplish goals is work. So games do this for work. Humans are constantly thinking, learning, making decisions, communicating, judging, deciding which goals to work towards and struggling to achieve them. Games are the artform by which we go deeper and deeper into these processes, but also simultaneously step back from them and become aware of them and contemplate them.”
Frank Lantz, “Doorknobs and Butterflies: Games After Art“. Art History of Games Symposium, Georgia Tech (2009)
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