Do you think that Minecraft builds can be considered as art? Why or why not?

Quote from ev3rage

personally my thoughts are that i don't think of Minecraft builds as art, as i feel that it being a game as well as a 3d digital form makes it feel disconnected, and its extremely difficult to find an emotional connection when viewing Minecraft builds. i think that art needs emotional connection and a sense of connection to the artist as well, in order for it to be considered as art.

another point i had was that Minecraft builds feel very same same to me, its always grounded and it all feels muddled because of the fact that Minecraft vanilla blocks already have a set style, and while people can use that limitation to showcase creativity, i don't think that showcase can be considered as art. like basically i feel that every Minecraft build is always a building / based around architecture, and even when it deviates from that there never really is a sense of true personal style, simply because everyone is using the same building blocks

thirdly i think that when i see Minecraft builds i tend to view them from a technical standpoint, eg i don't think "wow! great build! i had an emotional connection to this! this build of mr krabs reminds me of my mother!" its more like "woah!! how did that guy do that? i wonder how they did it and what techniques they used" i think its because i view Minecraft heavily as just a game and less of an experience, and i feel that because its based around code, it could never truly be considered as art in my opinion. because even with the most impressive builds/ experiences/ redstone, my first thought is always about the technical aspects of it, like did they use command blocks, custom models, coding etc. and it really disconnects me from the emotional connection (if there even is one in the build in the first place)

i have more points but i have dementia

you're wrong 👍

Technically, builds could be a form of digital art, which I see them as. To make something really good, it requires a certain degree of skill and creativity much like more "traditional" art mediums as well, further drawing parallels to what most people see as "art."

yes

Yes, they count as voxel art if they were made with form and aesthetics in mind. This in the same category as saying "is sprite art real art?" and similar arguments for games that you can make sprite art in (technically Minecraft too but my go-to example is Terraria).

Anything can essentially be art in a sense. You ever seen those giant statue builds? Those are art. Even a small dirthouse can be art if theres emotion and story behind it. BUT dont expect people to understand. Its kinda like that banana taped onto a wall shit. That wasnt art because it was just boredom lmfao

Video games has evolved a very long way since they became a thing, and Minecraft also along with it. What is once a survival sandbox can now be used as a medium or a platform for anyone to express whatever they want, be it visually stunning pieces, story-telling experiences or just technical demonstrations of Minecraft's limits. This kind of freedom breeds creativity, and thus in my opinion what we can refer to as "art".

Outside of this though, people have been debating about the definition of art for as long as the concept existed. No answer of this can be wrong, but none of them are correct either. Ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and one's standards of such depends on their own interpretation of life itself. Afterall, art is not just about the artist but also the audience, even when sometimes they are of the same person.

While it is nice to be able to categorize things into words as we speak, sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth to try and define the meaning of everything. Perhaps that's a good sign to simply sit back and appreciate something that you found enjoyable, be it a really well-built Minecraft giraffe, or just a banana and some duct tape. Life's too short for anyone to be hung up on semantics.