Chris Melissinos and Georgina Goodlander speak about museum gaming at the Game Developer’s Conference.
Last week I joined guest curator Chris Melissinos at this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco to present "A Day at the Museum: How the Smithsonian is Embracing Games."
We've been thinking a lot about games at American Art recently. In 2008, we ran the world's first museum-based Alternate Reality Game Ghosts of a Chance, which included an ongoing version in the Museum. Over 2,000 people have played the museum version so far and we already have bookings through the fall. More recently we have been experimenting with cell phone games and tours, including The Case of the Missing Artwork, in which you have to solve a mystery by following the text-message clues around the Luce Foundation Center, and Mad Genius, which takes you on a text-tour of some of our more eccentric artists.
But what about video games? Video games are extremely powerful as a visual medium. Did you know, for example, that one of the significant "new" technologies used in Avatar was first used in a video game in 1982? Games are also shaping the way that younger generations learn and socialize, from massive multi-player games played through communities over the internet, to activities that can be enjoyed at home as a family. In 2012, the American Art Museum will open an exhibition titled The Art of Video Games, to examine the evolution of video games as an artistic medium. We're leaving the final selection of materials up to you, however, so stay tuned to find out when it's time to vote!
