Really good manifesto, only thing I disagree on is that art isn't about storytelling. It's about self-expression. "Here I am. I'm alive at this moment. This is me, right now." That's all art ever is. Everything else, including narrative, gameplay, aesthetics, "a message," etc., is just bobbles tacked on, or something contained within the art. The absolute oldest surviving works of art are handprints on cave walls. "This is me. I lived. No one else will ever leave a handprint exactly like this, not ever. Not with authenticity."
That's all art ever is, all it ever has to be. Not a fuckin entry on a high score table, that's for sure. But also not really a story either, just look at how poorly most fairy tales have aged, for instance. The story of Icarus basically tells you that the author was a cowardly and arrogant idiot who never climbed a mountain and never discovered how fucking cold it is when you physically go up high, yet thought it was his position and his privilege to lecture others about how they should never try, either. But that is a completely honest and authentic expression of whoever he was, and whatever he believed in, and that's what makes the story of Icarus art. Not the narrative or the message itself, the fact that this dude believed in his message.
