Abstract
When we theorize about games and art in German we use terms that lack an unequivocal translation into the English language. The concepts underlying these terms differ as well from the concepts underlying corresponding concepts in the Anglo-American world. Take the word “art” or “artist” for example. A game artist can be seen as “a generalist animator and 3D modeller who creates both 2D and 3D art for video games.” (https://www.cgspectrum.com/) This corresponds by no means to the concept of the German “Künstler”. Also the process of producing game art has been described as „working from design briefs and concept art,“ whereas the understanding of “Kunstschaffen” would never be understood as working from briefs, but rather as creating conceptual frameworks via artworks. The situation is equally tricky when using “Spiel” instead of “game”. The English language differentiates between game and play, whereas Germans use one word “Spiel” for both of them. A workshop proposal by the DiGRA chapter of the German-speaking Countries (Florian Bettel/Univ. of Applied Arts Vienna, Mathias Fuchs/Leuphana University Lüneburg, Margarete Jahrmann/Univ. of Applied Arts Vienna, Hartmut Koenitz/Södertörns högskola Stockholm, Lies van Roessel/ Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, René Bauer/ZHdK – Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Kato Hiloko/University of Zürich, Roman Kirschner/ ZHdK). * * * Caption: József Divéky (artist), Wiener Werkstätte (publisher), Postkarte der Wiener Werkstätte Nr. 240: Schaukelpferd mit drei Kindern, 1909, (https://sammlung.wienmuseum.at/objekt/178958/)
