The Art History of Games

Last week I attended The Art History of Games symposium in Atlanta, GA, organized by Savannah College of Art and Design – Atlanta and Georgia Tech. Co-organizers Ian Bogost, John Sharp and Michael Nitsche helped kick off the event and their panel considered the concept of an art history of games.

Why did I attend? I’m not necessarily a gamer or game designer but I spent a great deal of time in the arcade as a teenager. I was fanatical about Centipede and could spin that large white ball/controller back and forth for hours.

How To Play: Use your mouse to move and press Spacebar to shoot. Shoot the centipede and avoid the spiders and other bugs. - http://www.play.vg/games/30/Centipede

The games I loved to play were simple (Frogger, Ms. PacMan) and required speed and hand-eye coordination to master. Many of these games are available on the Web and on mobile devices but these re-dos can’t duplicate the original arcade experience. Now defunct Brøderbund Software made computer games like Prince of Persia and Myst, a game that reminds me of some of Bryn Oh’s builds (virtual 3D art installation) in Second Life.

Anyway I went because the idea of a intellectual discourse on the art history of games intrigues me. I’m here because the content explores the trajectory of art history through play as art, directly touching upon what I cover in my visual language courses, especially time-design (4D art and design).

Keynote presenter John Romero talked about the Masters Among Us, emphasizing the importance of learning from game designers of the past. There were several talks/presentations, each with with Q & A, i.e. Game Art History and Play/Players AKA Game Art Fundamentals. Each cluster of talks culminated with more panel discussion and more Q & A. Morning speaker John Sharp from SCAD presented a paradox for games as art:

* Games are not seen as art
* Game makers are not seen as artists

Sharp talked about the evolution of the game image through the Western canon, or the compendium of “great works of artistic merit” in Western art that were shaped by ideas of the 1800s and 1900s in Europe. This does not include the viewpoints of many other voices in contemporary societies around the world. Nonetheless his presentation about how games were viewed throughout Western art history was interesting.

**I noted then that if one removed “art” from the event title it becomes an entirely different discourse. I think “art” was added to question the value, or validity of games as a contemporary art form, as well as the inherent (historical) challenges that accompany this investigation.**

Cory Arcangel’s Super Mario Clouds was a highly debated work in several talks: http://www.coryarcangel.com/things-i-made/SuperMarioClouds

Super Mario Clouds is an old Mario Brothers cartridge which I modified to erase everything but the clouds. This project was very much in the line of the stuff various BEIGE (aka Beige aka Beige Programming Ensemble, etc, etc) representatives Paul, Joe, + Joe were doing then. Anyway, check below for the ROM, source code, a gif, a scan of the cartridge, a video, and instructions on how 2 make it yourself.

Suddenly I discovered an opportunity where young people can learn how to do similar game art:

http://eyebeam.org/events/winter-break-workshop-for-teens-nes-graphic-ha...