ACMI's Game Masters exhibition honours the pioneers of video game culture
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012
Originally posted: Friday, 29 June 2012 at 10:34am
The aesthetic and cultural history of videogames is finally being recognised as a major contributor to contemporary culture by some of the leading art galleries around the world.
2012 is a big year for gaming. In January the exhibition Game Story featured in the venerable galleries of the Grand Palais in Paris. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is currently showing The Art of Video Games, and in Melbourne the Australian Centre for the Moving Image this week opened Game Masters.
The exhibition, on show until October 28, profiles the work of over 30 leading game designers and features over 125 playable games.
The exhibition is the culmination of more than two years of research by ACMI's Head of Exhibitions, Conrad Bodman, and the ACMI curatorial team. Game culture is a familiar subject for Bodman who was the original curator for the 2002 landmark exhibition Game On - the definitive history of video games at London's Barbican Art Gallery.
While Game On charted the history of video games, Game Masters is exploring the ideas behind iconic game titles and profiles the individuals responsible for developing the modern language of video games.
Warren Spector, of Wing Commander, Deus Ex and Disney’s Epic Mickey fame, is currently in Melbourne for the opening of the exhibition and a two-day game forum.
He’s comfortable with games being considered art, but highlights the importance of the collaborative process over privileging the individual artist.
“Games are the most intensely collaborative process I've ever been involved with," he says.
Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Secret of Monkey Island) agrees: “Games are about collaboration. With a different group [of designers] you create an entirely different game.”
The Game Masters exhibition explores how designers’ motivation has evolved to match shifts in consumer behaviour.
For Australian independent game developer Rob Murray (Flight Control, Real Racing) the proliferation of mobile devices is fuelling an evolution in the gaming industry. “It’s not just the immersive games that are getting attention it is social games and casual games”.
Spector believes immersive games can offer something different. “I want people to have an entire experience, and then move on,” he says.
But for Schafer getting people to stay put is the goal. “Arcade games were always about kicking people out [of the game] to get more money, now it’s about wanting people to stay in our world.”
Game Masters is part of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition series and is on at Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) until October 2012.
Related links:
ACMI's Game Masters website.
ABC Television's Good Game website.
Game Masters Rob Murray (L) Tim Schafer and Warren Spector at ACMI (Courtesy ACMI)
- Tim Stone
Game consoles on display at ACMI's Game Masters exhibition. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI, installation view. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI, installation view. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI, installation view. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI, installation view. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI, installation view. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)
Game Masters The Exhibition at ACMI, installation view. Photograph: Mark Ashkanasy, 2012 (Courtesy ACMI)