Posts tagged with Art in Blog Eaten by a Grue

In just a couple of short weeks, the CVGA will be involved in an Art & Gaming Symposium, which will bring together academics, game makers, and game players to discuss the role of art in gaming. How is art reflected in games? How does one create art through games? How do we view games as art? These questions will be explored through speakers, panels and discussion in a one-day symposium on Saturday, April 7, 2018, on the campus of the University of Michigan & the Ann Arbor District Library.

Our student worker Mike Lynch explores the human search for feelings in all aspects of life - and specifically, in video games.

People have donated so many game manuals over the years that we (sadly) end up keeping in storage because we just don't have the games themselves to go with them. It's a pity because there are quite a few in our hidden collection that have amazing game art, full of color and bringing back a sense of game nostalgia that few other sources can inspire.

The Smithsonian's Art of Video Games Exhibition is seeking images of creative projects and paraphernalia inspired by video games. According to their site, they are looking for "photographs that show how video games can inspire creativity! These might include images of video-game-inspired drawings, paintings, sculptures, jewelry, clothing, events, graphics, food, wallpaper... anything, really! We're particularly interested in seeing creative and crazy costumes inspired by your favorite game characters."

Ian Bogost, author of several books including How To Do Things With Video Games, spoke to Forbes recently in an interview about video games as a medium. He discusses the strengths of video games as a medium, the power of games in politics, and how the industry is handling adult themes in games. He also mentions the varying answers that people give to the question "what is a video game?" and how that affects whether they consider themselves gamers.

Phil Minchin of Port Phillip Library in Australia shares his views on why games are an overlooked but important addition to libraries via a blog post on the Library Journal blog. In it, he points out a number of reasons why games should be in the collection, including that they are important elements of culture, that they foster community, and that they are art - the poetry of system.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 7-2 in the Brown v. EMA (formerly Schwarzenegger v. EMA) case that a California law barring the sale of violent video games to minors was unconstitutional, saying that video games are a creative medium deserving of first amendment protection.

An article on KCET.org describes how researchers of the newly-released video game L.A. Noire used library and archive materials to inspire ideas for the game, from using old photography and maps to inspire the visuals, to scouring old newspapers for real-life crime stories that inspired the plots in the game.

Because of a ruling by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, video games are now legally considered to be an art form.

Professor Sheila Murphy is teaching her class again this semester, entitled "Video Games as Culture/Form." Besides a trip to our archive to get up close and personal with some of the more violent games in our collection, students from the class are also contributing to the course blog at http://videogameform.blogspot.com/, where they give their unedited perspectives on a variety of topics related to video games and culture.