Video Games Get Nod as Art by Smithsonian

2K Games was proud to announce that Bioshock will be included in a new Smithsonian exhibit on video game art consisting of material from 80 games.

The Art of Video Games exhibit will hit the DC-area national museum March 16, 2012 through September 30, 2012. Along with other games selected for this honor, BioShock will represent the action genre on the current generation of gaming platforms.

Games as Art

Of the 240 titles selected by the exhibition curator, Chris Melissinos, and reviewed by the exhibition’s advisory group consisting of game developers, designers, industry pioneers and journalists, fans cast their vote and selected 80 games to represent the industry in one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium.

 “When I worked to put together the list of games, with input from the advisory group, for ‘The Art of Video Games,’ I looked for games that ran the gamut of art, social commentary, storytelling and artistic license, and BioShock combined these elements in new ways,” said Melissinos. “Ultimately, the fans got the final say regarding the games they believe best represent the medium and we’re extremely pleased with the results.”

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. In this exhibition, the museum is the first to comprehensively examine the evolution of video games as an artistic medium.

From the Atari VSC to the Playstation 3, this exhibition shows the development of visual effects and aesthetics since the 1970s, the emergence of games as a means for storytelling, the influence of world events and popular culture on game development, and the impact games can have on society. It includes multimedia presentations of video game footage, video interviews with developers and artists, large prints of in-game screen shots, historic video game consoles, and a selection of working video game systems for visitors to play

Find out more at Smithsonian American Art Museum’s website http://americanart.si.edu/taovg.

Tangential Benefits

This clearly sets a major precedent. Video games are being displayed in what is being considered an art exhibit. Surely that will help to ensure that there is always first amendment protection for the content of video games, like there is for all other forms of art. This should then, hopefully, discourage continued unlawful attacks on the integrity and content of video games and baseless claims that games make monsters of children.

After all, many of us have played games our whole lives and aren’t out killing other people for fun and profit, now are we? We understand the delineation of fantasy and reality and aren’t stepping over that line. Surely, recognition by the world’s largest museum as art is enough to base a decision on, right?