The Collector, the Glitcher, and the Denkbilder: Towards a Critical Aesthetic Theory of Video Games

Abstract: To examine the aesthetics of video games, this paper proposes to consider video games as a contemporary multi-media version of the so-called "Denkbild," or "thought-image," an experimental genre of philosophical writing employed by members of the Frankfurt School. A poetic mode of writing, the Denkbild takes literary snapshots of philosophical, political, and cultural insights that interrupt and challenge the enigmatic form of traditional philosophical thinking. Thinking of video games through the lens of the Denkbild allows us to understand the diversity, conditionality, and incommensurability of video game as a form without reducing it to separate pieces to be examined within their respective disciplines too quickly. By presenting two snapshots of video game players, the collector and the glitcher, this paper argues that the concept of Denkbild allows us to better understand the relationships between game, gamers, and the socio-political context in terms of unexpected bonds, accidental breakthroughs, and moments of absolute freedom.