Can a computer make you cry?
That is the question asked in the manifesto of Electronic Arts, one of the biggest developers of video games including the Madden football franchise.
Can a video game be fine art? According to the Toledo Museum of Art, the answer is yes. For proof, look no further than The Art of Video Games, a groundbreaking exhibit presented by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which TMA will host beginning June 19.
Amy Gilman, associate director of the museum, knows nostalgia will be a big part of its appeal because she was once a gamer herself. "I grew up with the arcades of the late 70s and early 80s," she explained. “The last video game I played was Space Invaders, at the City Museum in St. Louis.” That's right, national museums, such as the Smithsonian, as well as the Museum of Modern Art, are acquiring video games for their collections.
To Gilman, it’s a given that video games can constitute fine art. “Game designers use artistic and creative thinking in the making of these games, which are intensely visual experiences—the same as viewing objects in the museum.”
The Art of Video Games promises to put the museum on the radar of an audience that may not normally think of it as a Friday night destination. After all, Americans have been playing video games for 40 years now. “We all have nostalgia for the games that we were introduced to at certain points in our lives,” Gilman said.
Evoltuion of the medium
The exhibit will focus on certain video games that defined different generations of gamers. For example, Mario exemplified the 2-D platform games of the mid-90s, while high-concept sci-fi games like Mass Effect are the flavor du jour of more modern consoles. Both of those games will be featured, alongside Gilman's game of choice, Pac-Man. "My sister and I both had Pac-Man watches!” she reminisced, with a hint of glee.
Think of The Art of Video Games as a time machine. Visitors will begin in the era of 1980s eight-bit games and, as they travel through the Canaday Gallery, view more sophisticated and modern games including consoles, still artwork, and video footage from over 25 games. The exhibit also sports playable sections of five games, including Super Mario Brothers and Myst. “The playable versions of each game within the exhibition are kid-friendly, even if the full version of the game is not,” Gilman said. There's more to The Art of Video Games than the games themselves; according to Gilman the exhibit also offers a rare glimpse into the minds behind our favorite games.
The heart of the exhibition is not the playables or the technological timeline, but in the game creators’ stories, according to Gilman. “There is a section that has interviews with gaming designers that go back to the beginning. It's not the part of the exhibit that is the sexy, flashy part—they're just talking heads in the video—but when you hear them speak about it, you realize that the creation of these games is an intensely personal experience that they treat with great responsibility. […] That was revelatory because when you think of Nintendo or Microsoft it's a mega-company, but the people developing the games… you see a kind of personal connection to the product."
More than a trip down memory lane, The Art of Videogames will offer art lovers a chance to learn about—and interact with—the world’s youngest form of fine art.
The Art of Video Games runs from Thursday, June 19, through Sunday, September 28.
Toledo Museum of Art, Canaday Gallery, 2445 Monroe St. 419-255-8000. toledomuseum.org Free
