Sunday, January 1, 2012

PAST: "The Art of Video Games" at the American Art Museum in Chinatown, FRI, March 16th - SUN, Sept 30th, Free

The Art of Video Games at the American Art Museum
Free
On view Friday, March 16th -  Sunday, September 30th

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. It features some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early pioneers to contemporary designers. The exhibition focuses on the interplay of graphics, technology and storytelling through some of the best games for twenty gaming systems ranging from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3.

Eighty games, selected with the help of the public, demonstrate the evolution of the medium. The games are presented through still images and video footage. In addition, the galleries will include video interviews with twenty developers and artists, large prints of in-game screen shots, and historic game consoles. Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels and collector of video games and gaming systems, is the curator of the exhibition... An amalgam of traditional art forms—painting, writing, sculpture, music, storytelling, cinematography—video games offer artists a previously unprecedented method of communicating with and engaging audiences.

You can even play some of the games! Five featured games, one from each era, show how players interact with diverse virtual worlds, highlighting innovative techniques that set the standard for many subsequent games. The playable games are Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, The Secret of Monkey Island, Myst, and Flower. You can also watch the video trailer, and interviews with the curator and designers. Go behind-the-scenes with the museum's blog Eye Level. There are also images of the exhibition installation on Flickr so you can watch its progress.

Re: Selection of the games in the exhibit, which was done by a vote from the pubic: More than 3.7 million votes were cast by 119,000 people in 175 countries! See which gameswere voted into the exhibition, or check out the original voting website.

The exhibition is on the 3rd floor North
Metro: Gallery Pl - Chinatown 

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