Art versus Craft and the Rise of the Mongrel Aesthetic

     When I was in art school as a painting major I worked in the English department as part of my financial aid. The contrast between my own painting department and the other proved to be an educational experience. Painting professors would frequently challenge students as to why they thought their work was art. If a student responded that their work was art because of it involved emotional or creative expression they would be met with scorn. The professors wanted something deeper.

     In the English department the professors would be quickly annoyed whenever someone referred to writing as an art. Not an art, but a craft would be the response. The difference between the two is fine as evidenced by a quick flip through any dictionary. In fact I have an older copy of Webster’s that has difficulty defining art without using the word itself in the definition.
 
     Lately there have been some who refer to rules design or board game production as art, and in the back of my mind I hear the screams of phantom professors bellowing in rage. I find that Americans are overly eager to slap the label of art on anything they see, and this becomes truer as our culture becomes ever more formed by commercial entities than individual contributions. I make my living designing training for a corporation (a natural jump from art school, right?) and doing so requires me to make numerous creative choices both in selecting my words and in the training’s presentation. Does this mean I create art for a living? I hardly think so. I don’t even consider the graphical elements I make to be art, and I cannot help but feel similarly when it comes to games.