The Art of Video Games

[Dimmauk]

http://www.artofvideogames.org/

Smithsonian Holds Vote on Video Games for Exhibit

Smithsonian American Art Museum asks public to vote on video games to include in 2012 exhibit
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON February 21, 2011 (AP)

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is asking the public to help select video games that will be included in its first exhibit to explore the art and visual effects of gaming.

The exhibit, "The Art of Video Games," is scheduled to open in March 2012 with a focus on the evolution of games as an artistic medium over the past 40 years.

The public can vote online through April 7. Voters can choose 80 games from a pool of 240 choices in various categories. The games on the site were chosen for their graphic appeal, artistic intent and innovative game designs. Results will be posted in May.

The winning games will be displayed at the museum next year as screen shots or short video clips.

About the Exhibition

Video games use images, actions, and player participation to tell stories and engage their audiences. In the same way as film, animation, and performance, they can be considered a compelling and influential form of narrative art.

The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. The exhibition will feature some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early developers such as David Crane and Warren Robinett to contemporary designers like Kellee Santiago and David Jaffe. It also will explore the many influences on game designers, and the pervasive presence video games have in the broader popular culture, with new relationships to video art, film and television, educational practices, and professional skill training. Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels and collector of video games and gaming systems, is the curator of the exhibition.

New technologies have allowed designers to create increasingly interactive and sophisticated game environments while staying grounded in traditional game types. The exhibition will feature eighty games through still images and video footage. Five games will be available for visitors to play for a few minutes, to gain some feel for the interactivity—Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and World of Warcraft. In addition, the galleries will include video interviews with developers and artists, large prints of in-game screen shots, and historic game consoles. Visitors will be able to connect with the content of the show across generations, from those who remember the classics such as Pitfall! to those playing contemporary games like Flower.

From February 14 through April 7, 2011, the public is invited to help select games to be included in the exhibition. You can vote online for eighty games from a pool of 240 proposed choices in various categories, divided by era, game type, and platform. The games on the ballot were selected by exhibition curator Chris Melissinos, who worked with the museum and an advisory group consisting of game developers, designers, industry pioneers, and journalists.


Post your votes! Sounds like an interesting exhibit, and I cant wait to read all the nerd rage about what games win.

[Pyro]

Waiting for this to get rigged by 4chan like the TIME magazine poll.

[Mici]

Almost raged, forgot Okami was PS2.
lol Minecraft is so going to win something.

[wipers]

Video games are the lowest form of art. Almost as bad as music.

[Antithesis]

I disagree. Modern photography -- especially done by college students -- is the lowest form of art. These MacBook fuckfaced tryhards take one black & white still and they think they're Dorothea Lange.

[wipers]

I wouldn't know anything about black and white photography.


Edit: I don't see people considering Halo 3 right up there with Van Gogh. That would be a bit of a stretch.

[Jotaru]

Video games are the lowest form of art. Almost as bad as music.

This will go far.

Some of the best storytelling / amazing views / moving plots I've found in vidya games. Jus' sayin.

[wipers]

I don't think you are getting my point. I love video games, but they will never be held in as high esteem as real art.


Edit: If you really think the video games you play are as good as some of the greatest artwork ever created. You really should visit a art museum.

[arus2001]

If smearing shit on a wall is art and video games aren't, I don't wanna be right. If the snag is it's somehow a collaborative work instead of an individual process, that'd also invalidate things like cinema. Nonetheless, they're creative expressions with their own technological twist.

[wipers]

I'm not talking about modern art. Modern art has gotten to the point where any pot head college student can be considered an artist. I'm talking about the masters Vang Gogh Matisse Gauguin. Picasso Jasper Johns etc.

Edit: I just find it offense that people consider video games on the same level as some of the best art ever created.

[arus2001]

And it's "The Art of Video Games" not "Video Games are better than the Masters, vote for your favorite and fuck those old guys!"

I have more than a healthy amount of respect for traditional work given my own collegiate art background. Color theory, mixing paints, perspective, lighting, all that shit can add up to an overwhelming amount of planning and effort to make something epic, and not everyone can do it. They get props for what they did, and in part, were pioneers. If one little exhibit on video games is an affront compared to the myriad of traditional establishments across the world, I dunno what to say. My gripes with the polling are simply the limited selection of games and how they categorized some.

[wipers]

I agree that there is some good art in video games, but there is no way in hell they deserve to be in a museum. I'll give you this I'll put the art in video games above anything Andy Warhol did.

[Mici]

I agree that there is some good art in video games, but there is no way in hell they deserve to be in a museum.

I think you have the idea that a museum is there to show our best things, it's not. Museums are there to show our history, good, bad, and mediocre if it had an impact on the world. Hell, the Smithsonian holds the first item to ever be ran across a bar code scanner. Although I do think it's a bit early in their history for this. Plus there are millions and millions of games other than what they listed.

[Ziero]

Some of them sure as hell do belong in a museum to be held up as art. Though while not every game they have listed can actually be considered art, there are still tons of examples of games that have far more artistic value and merit then a lot of other things they've displayed in museum exhibits. New art doesn't invalidate or replace old art, so there's no reason to take this concept as a personal insult to classical artists of the past.

My only problem is what was mentioned about the classification and organization of how the games get voted on. I mean, what's the point of separating games into console based categories if you're going to list cross platform games? It should have ignored systems and genres and just have been based on the time periods in question.

[Alleya]

Some of the best storytelling / amazing views / moving plots I've found in vidya games. Jus' sayin.

Not saying video games aren't art but

Holy shit read some books if you think this. Please.

[ronin sparthos]

Video games are still in their infancy, the medium hasn't even been around two generations yet. When your grandparents have no fucking clue what the medium is, you know its that young. We're on the cutting edge of something that in the future will be far more respected.

Motion picture went through the same shit. Radio went through the same shit.

Every medium has pieces that just define pure shit. The bottom of the barrel so to speak. Id induct Superman 64 into this exhibit just for how bad that abortion of a game was.

[tyven]

I disagree. Modern photography -- especially done by college students -- is the lowest form of art. These MacBook fuckfaced tryhards take one black & white still and they think they're Dorothea Lange.

oh man i love this. its about to be my fb status

[tyven]

oh man BRP is gonna be pissed when he sees that FLower is one of the games people can vote for

[Priran]

oh man BRP is gonna be pissed when he sees that FLower is one of the games people can vote for

BRP is banned

[Omniyoji]

BRP is banned

aww that sucks.

My one problem with this would be people voting x over y and z because it's a better game even though the premise is ART!