The Art of Video Games (from the English - “ The Art of Video Games ”) is an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Museum of American Art from March 16 to September 30, 2012. The exhibition was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the video game industry and sought to illuminate the evolution of video game art. After finishing work at the Smithsonian Museum, the exhibition was exhibited in 10 places in the United States. The curator of the exhibition was Chris Melissinos ( English Chris Melissinos ), founder of Past Pixels and a collector of video games and gaming systems [1] .
Exhibition Description
The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the development of video games as an artistic means of expression, focused on vivid visual effects and creative use of new technologies. The exhibition featured the best representatives of video game art from the first pioneers of the industry to modern works during the five generations of the development of video game technologies.
The exhibition reveals aspects of the interaction of the graphic component of video games, technological and narrative, using the best games created for twenty gaming systems as an example, from Atari VCS to PlayStation 3 [1] .
The exhibition gives a glimpse into the history of the gaming industry, from the early Pac-Man and Space Invaders games to much more complex modern epics such as BioShock and Uncharted . The Art of Video Games gives convincing arguments in favor of the fact that the games are not just considered as entertainment, but as a rich, exciting experience that has moved into the field of culture and art [2] .
Video Game Selection for the Exhibition
The Smithsonian Museum of American Art before the exhibition opened to the public to select the video games to be included in the exhibition. Chris Melissinos, who worked with the museum and an advisory group consisting of game developers, designers, industry pioneers and journalists, selected 240 games for the ballot. Games were selected based on many criteria, including visual effects, the creative use of new technologies and how the game fits into the narrative of the exhibition. Voting took place from February 14 to April 17, 2011. Over 3.7 million votes were cast by 119,000 people in 175 countries! As a result, the exhibition included 80 games, the earliest of which dates to 1980 - the Space Invaders video game for the Atari VCS game console, and the latest to 2008 - the Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution video game for the PlayStation 3 game console.
80 selected games demonstrated the evolution of the medium. Games were exhibited in the form of images and videos. In addition, the exhibition included a video interview with twenty developers and artists, in-game screenshots of large sizes, as well as game consoles [1] .
Edition for the exhibition
The book “The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect” was released for the exhibition. The author of the book was Chris Melissinos, curator of the exhibition, the preface was written by the director of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art Elizabeth Broun, and the introduction was by Michael Mika, the head of development at Other Ocean Interactive and an outstanding advocate for preserving the history of video games [2 ] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 The Art of Video Games (English ) ? . Smithsonian American Art Museum. Date of treatment August 18, 2019.
- ↑ 1 2 The Art of Video Games (English) (unspecified) ? . Smithsonian American Art Museum. Date of treatment August 18, 2019.