An Xbox 360 controller sits on display at PhxArtCade 2.0. The exhibit at the ArtSpace West (UCB 228) location will be open for viewing until Oct. 3. The gallery is open noon to 5 p.m. every Monday through Thursday. (Photo by Dominic Valente)The exhibit at the ArtSpace West (UCB 228) location will be open for viewing until Oct. 3. The gallery is open noon to 5 p.m. every Monday through Thursday.
For many people, video games are much more than just a recreational hobby. To people like Theresa Devine, an assistant professor at the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, they are art.
Devine’s work is a part of the art exhibit called "The Art of Video Games," which is open for viewing at the Phoenix Art Museum until Sept. 29. On the Phoenix Art Museum website, "The Art of Video Games" is described as a gallery that “explores 40 years of video games as an artistic medium.” The museum’s display has interactive, new video game concepts as well as classic arcade features.
Devine and a handful of other artists whose work she curated, were invited to ASU’s West campus in order to display interactive video games for a smaller, less expansive version of the Art Museum’s gallery, called PhxArtCade 2.0.
At the ArtSpace West location ASU's West campus there were five large projections on display. The games were projected on to the blank walls in the room so people attending the exhibit were able to play the games while others watched. Unique controllers and joysticks were provided for most of the displays.
These games are vivid in color and rich in the meaning behind them. In an “Artist Statement,” Devine relates what she believes is the message behind her own part of the exhibit entitled, “Ce n’est pas un jouet: This is not a toy.”
“I believe that through play, we release ourselves from adversity and open the door to new possibilities,” Devine wrote in the statement.
Sociology senior Damon White attended the opening reception of the gallery early in September. Devine’s piece, "This Is Not a Toy,"was White’s favorite part of the gallery.
“The game is beautiful and cruel, taunting through its seeming simplicity," White said. "It eats away at me, because the challenge compels me to keep playing."
The exhibition was a visually interactive experience that contained a few choice styles of gaming, from virtual reality to a revamped artsy version of a first-person-shooter.
In addition to the projected video games, Devine also brought with her board games created by various artists. She said the games will be on reserve in the library for anyone to check out and play. The original concept board games are available to check out at Fletcher Library at the West campus.
The exhibit at the ArtSpace West (UCB 228) location will be open for viewing until Oct. 3. The gallery is open noon to 5 p.m. every Monday through Thursday.
Reach the reporter at sjochoa@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter @SenoritaSyd
