TILBURG UNIVERSITY Videogames and the Museum Derkjan Koning ANR. S941364 27/11/2014 Liberal Arts and Sciences Bachelor Thesis: 2014, dr. K.J. Brown 1 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 1 Research Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 3 2. Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 3 3. Historical Context ........................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 1: Videogames and Art ............................................................................................................ 9 Cross-cultural Endeavour .............................................................................................................. 11 CHAPTER 2: Videogames and Art Museums ......................................................................................... 15 The Art Museum and why it discourages physical interaction ..................................................... 15 The Role of the Curator ................................................................................................................. 17 Videogames and museums? .......................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 3: Videogame Exhibitions ...................................................................................................... 21 MoMA: Applied Design.................................................................................................................. 21 Smithsonian Institution: The Art of Video Games ......................................................................... 23 Stedelijk Museum: Do It! Load It! .................................................................................................. 26 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 28 2 INTRODUCTION 1 Research Objectives The intersection between the art world and videogames has been a subject of interest for several years in aesthetics and within the world of museums and game designers. Sadly, however, the gap between the disciplines of game design and museum practice is one that is not easily bridged. With regard to the ‘art status’ of videogames, there is no clear consensus to be found in academic literature or amongst the opinions of critics expressed in press publications. By ‘art status’ in this context I mean works that are intended (or seen as serious candidates) to be appreciated for their aesthetic qualities and that are experienced in the context of an exhibition space. Those opposed to granting videogames art status are often judged to misunderstand the medium and aesthetic qualities of video games in general by those in favour of the medium. Conversely, proponents are told that their games do not constitute an art form because they are ‘games’. While this field of tension persists between art and videogames, it has not prevented art museums from attempting to incorporate videogames in to their collections as art (or art-related) works. For instance, in 2012 the Museum of Modern Art (New York) acquired 14 videogames for a permanent exhibition on design. Earlier that year the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC) organized “The Art of Videogames”, an exhibition which is currently travelling around the United States. One year prior to that, the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam) organized “DO IT! LOAD IT!” which sought to explore a link between art and videogames. This thesis seeks to find an answer to the question of how videogames can be effectively showcased as art objects in a museum exhibition? To this end, I shall explore the principal challenges that curators and conservators face in their attempts to preserve and display videogames as artworks. An additional aim is to put forward a suggestion that seeks to mitigate the tension between museum display practices and the videogame experience with a view to smoothing the integration of videogames into museums as culturally and artistically interesting art objects. Through writing this thesis I also hope to contribute to the discussion about whether videogames can be considered as a medium capable of offering artists a novel platform for creative expression, and whether museums can offer such works a useful place of preservation and exposure. 2. Methodology The scope of this thesis will limit itself to an explanation of what video games are, under what circumstances they can qualify as art, and the challenges they present to curators and conservators of museums who aim to incorporate them into temporary exhibitions or permanent collections. The findings in this thesis will be based on an analysis of relevant scholarly literature, as well as on study of the recordings of panel discussions and lectures that took place at major videogame conventions, articles by journalists, and interviews with artists and game designers. Through the use of these sources, the thesis attempts not only to explore the topic from a theoretical academic perspective, but also to examine some of the practical issues that have affected this area of art production and debate. 3 In chapter 1, I will discuss some recent theories in aesthetics that contribute to the debate on whether videogames can or should be understood as artworks. The focus will, in particular, be on the cluster theory of art put forward by Berys Gaut1 and further debated in the works of Grant Tavinor2 and Dominic McIver Lopes3. In contrast to a conceptualization of art as the product of artistic intent or institutional approval, a conception of art on the basis of a cluster theory is, in my view, the least rigid and most appealing to a defence of videogames as artworks. I will further show that if videogames are art they belong to the art form of computer art as discussed by Lopes. Discussion of these theories will serve to establish a framework from which it becomes easier to understand what a videogame is and how it relates to more traditional art forms such as painting or sculpture. This will also serve to create a foundation from which to tackle the topics examined in the remaining chapters relating to the collection and display of such works. Chapter 2 will deal with the question of whether or not videogames deserve to be preserved in art museums and will examine the criteria a curator may use to create a selection of videogames. This part of the discussion will also examine some of the problems posed by the ‘game’ feature of the works and the purpose that art museums are considered to fulfil in contemporary society. In light of their interactive nature—which greatly differs from the objects that typically comprise the bulk of museum collections—videogames are seen to offer new challenges to curators and to the aims of their institutions. The final chapter will focus in detail on the strategies utilized by curators of three videogame art exhibitions4. I will discuss the issues they encountered and the reasons why museums have chosen to incorporate video games into their collections. Each of them paid attention to a different aspect of videogames to reveal them as an art form: innovation for “Applied Design;” historical tradition and a cultural phenomenon for “The Art of Videogames;” and their viability as a medium for artistic expression for “DO IT! LOAD IT!.” Thus I will analyse key examples of how games have been incorporated in to museum exhibitions as art and will identify various pitfalls and opportunities that video games as a medium may bring to the museum. I will also try to show how the unique nature of the museum as an institution that is capable of creating a context in which to showcase objects, may contribute to facilitating a better understanding and appreciation of videogames as art. I will argue that this occurs by exhibiting games in a different (i.e. non-gaming) context that is mixed with other more familiar art forms. 3. Historical Context In order to put the arguments of this thesis into context, I will quickly sketch the current state of the videogame industry and consider how its current form came into being. This background is important as it gives the reader an idea of where the innovation in the industry is actually coming from and shows why videogames as a medium have started to be perceived as forms of artistic expression. I will do this by briefly detailing the various ways in which developers create videogames and consider how these and related trends in the industry influence the way in which videogames are made. Most 1 Berys Gaut, ““Art”as a Cluster Concept,” in Theories of Art Today, ed. Noël Carroll (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000), p. 25-44. 2 Grant Tavinor, THE ART OF VIDEOGAMES (Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), p. 172-196. 3 Dominic McIver Lopes, A Philosophy of Computer Art (London: Routledge, 2010), p. 103-120. 4 “DO IT! LOAD IT!,” The Stedelijk Museum 2011; “The Art of Videogames,” Smithsonian 2012; “Applied Design,” MoMA 2013. 4 prominent amongst those developments is the advent of self-publishing and digital distribution opportunities for independent game developers. Before the advent of digital videogame download services and crowd funding