GAMES+museums

History and trends

Christopher Totten, Kaylin Lapan, and Drew Robarge

14:30 - 14:40:  Introductions

14:40 - 15:00:  Overview of noteworthy game events and exhibitionsPresented by Chris Totten, Kaylin Lapan, and Drew Robarge

15:00 - 15:15:  Focus topic #1 

15:15 - 15:30:  Focus topic #2  

15:30 - 15:45:  Break 

15:45 - 16:00:  Part 2 Introductions

16:00 - 16:20:  Curation overview Drew Robarge - Smithsonian American History Museum

16:20 - 16:40:  Playing the museum: integrating games and play into exhibits American University Traverse team

16:40 - 17:00:  Wrap 

Christopher Totten

Executive Organizer Smithsonian American Art Museum Indie Arcade

Game Artist in Residence American University

Author An Architectural Approach to Level Design and Game Character Creation in Blender and Unity

Community organizer Washington, DC game community, IGDA DC

Kaylin Lapan

Executive Organizer Smithsonian American Art Museum Indie Arcade

New Media Programs Coordinator & Front-end Developer Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery

Exhibitions Watch This! Revelations in Media Art, 2015 & The Art of Video Games, 2012

Photo by: Tatiana Gulenkina, 2015

The Art of Video Games

Technology

1991Nam June Paik

Born: Seoul, Korea 1932Died: Miami Beach, Florida 200625 video monitors, 3 laser disc players with unique 3 discs in a cabinet of various materials 127 x 51 7/8 x 75 5/8 in. (322.6 x 131.7 x 192.1 cm.)Smithsonian American Art MuseumMuseum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment1994.29Not currently on view

Curator Chris Melissinos

Importance SAAM's record breaking, first venture into the world of video games.

Specs 20 gaming systems ranging from Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3 featuring 80 video games selected with help from the public. 5 games were playable.

Watch This!Revelations in Media Art

Technology

1991Nam June Paik

Born: Seoul, Korea 1932Died: Miami Beach, Florida 200625 video monitors, 3 laser disc players with unique 3 discs in a cabinet of various materials 127 x 51 7/8 x 75 5/8 in. (322.6 x 131.7 x 192.1 cm.)Smithsonian American Art MuseumMuseum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment1994.29Not currently on view

Curator Michael Mansfield

Importance Marked the acquisition of Flower and Halo 2600 into SAAM's permanent collection. First exhibition in which games are displayed on equal footing with pioneering artworks.

Specs Artworks displayed include Halo 2600 and Flower (both playable) alongside Martha Rosler's Semiotics of the Kitchen and Nam June Paik's recently discovered Etude 1

eGameRevolution

Curator J.P. Dyson

Institution The Strong Museum of Play

Importance Permanent exhibition of the largest video game collection in the world.

Specs John Romero’s first computer, Brown Box Replica, NES Stadium competition games

Museum of Modern Art

Curator Paola Antonelli

Institution Museum of Modern Art

Importance One of the early art museums to collect video games including original artwork

Specs Magnavox Odyssey, Tetris, Canabalt, Feng Mengbo’s Long March: Restart (2008)

Photo credit: MOMA

The Game Worlds of Jason Rohrer

Curator Michael Maizels

Institution Davis Museum at Wellesley College

Importance One of the first exhibitions to focus on a video game designer.

Specs Passage, Primrose, Inside a Star-filled Sky, Diamond Trust of London

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Indie Arcade

1 day event showcasing indie games

Classic gaming and game cover bands by MAGFest

1st year: Mid-Atlantic regional indie developers, 43 entries, 16 chosen games, ~4000 attendees

2nd year: International scope, 150+ entries, 32 chosen games, 11,750 attendees

Technology

Augmented Reality

What: Mobile applications recognize visual patterns in the real world and project digital information onto that image on the device screen.

Use: Adding supplementary information to exhibits. Making guides. Showing digital exhibits.

Potential: Scavenger hunts, game-like experiences in the museum, interactive stories.

Technology

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID)

What: Uses radio waves to communicate between two objects (tag and reader) Tags typically hold user profiles.

Use: Adding information to exhibits customized to the user or adding scannable info to exhibit items.

Potential: Building game-like experiences where visitors can have custom profiles and/or characters.

Technology

Mobile and internet technology

What: Mobile applications connected to web or GPS data

Use: Adding supplementary information to exhibits. Making guides. Adding a digital storytelling layer to museum environments.

Potential: Scavenger hunts, game-like experiences in the museum, interactive stories, online visitor profiles, social media.

Play

Playground installations

What: Adding playful interactive installations where visitors are invited to physically engage the space.

Use: Design installations, many are commissioned by noteworthy designers (architects, etc.)

Potential: Environments designed like game levels with implicit “rules.”

Play

Game installations

What: Installations that are both games and art pieces

Use: Design installations with published rules of how to interact with it in a game-like way, often featuring a game master.

Potential: Playful engagement, community building, designing games with educational content.