'The Art of Video Games' to launch 11-city tour

ETX Daily Up
"Einhander," Tetsuo Mizuno, Tomoyuki Takechi, Shinji Hashimoto, executive producers

The first-ever exhibit to chronicle the 40-year evolution of video games, The Art of Video Games is at the American Art Museum of the Smithsonian in Washington DC March 16 - September 30, following the game world from Atari in the 1970s to today's Playstation 3.

Visual effects and the creative use of technology and storytelling will be showcased through multimedia presentations. The aesthetics of the videogame medium will be illustrated through the variety of art forms incorportated, including painting, graphic design, music, storytelling, cinematography and technology.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gXrCEzuAis

Videos are online from the exhibition depicting the themes of the show: Beginnings, Inspiration, Narrative, Experience, and The Future, including interviews from 20 influential gaming figures, such as Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, and Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear and other popular games. Watch them here:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9F47DB6D0F399893

Five working games systems, one from each period, will be available for visitors to play, including Pac-Man and Myst to demonstrate how innovative techniques set the standard.

Visitors will be able to explore a total of 80 video games, from early days to contemporary designs, selected by Chris Melissinos, founder of Past Pixels, who curated the exhibit, with the help of the public with 119,000 votes from 175 countries

Admission to The Art of Video Games is free but a ticket is required and can be obtained online. The show kicks off with GameFest, three days of play and screenings including the original Tron, costume photo-ops and talks by video game pioneers Nolan Bushnell and Hideo Kojima, which will be available in the archives: http://americanart.si.edu/multimedia/webcasts

The exhibition will travel to 10 US cities following Washington DC, including visits to Boca Raton Museum of Art, EMP Museum in Seattle, Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art in Tennessee, and the Frost Art Museum at FIU in Miami, Florida.

Website: http://www.americanart.si.edu/taovg

RC