A Kilobyte of Art

By Tyler Brunner

Directed by Casey Hudson, Mass Effect 2 became an artistically sound, and video popular game in 2010    

Since October, the Smithsonian has hosted a large event of the evolution of video games. Chris Melissinos is the founder of Past Pixels and is the curator of this event. The event has gained support through the Entertainment Software Association Foundation. This first-ever exhibit explores the 40 year longevity of video games. This exhibit focusses on the artistic work put into graphics, creativity, storytelling, and player interaction. The event was created to give homage to unrecognized artists and designers who have shown their creativity and intelligence in the evolution of gaming. It also gives viewers a sense of evolving technology and the manifest of new art forms. The exhibit features many of today’s most influential artists and designers used in animation and graphic rendering. The exhibition showcases some of the most loved and played games that were chosen by more than 119,000 people in 175 countries. An intriguing feature is the use of live footage, and images, some never released to the public. Another enjoyable factor is that you can actually play many of the games present on the 20 different gaming systems. Along with 20 different gaming systems, the exhibit provided a chance to experience 80 different games.

The exhibit started October 24th, and is closing January 13^th which still gives plenty of time to experience it. Something I feel could be changed is to switch out many of the games either every week or every month to give the viewer’s more freedom. I feel as if space and open-ness in an exhibit is the key to appeal to viewers. Many of the playable games were occupied in large numbers by people of all different ages and the kiosks themselves were set up very close together. A notable thing although is how all of the game consoles and stations were set up according to the time they were released which also gives an idea of technological evolution. Some of the consoles included the PlayStation 3 and Atari VCS while some games include Pac-Man, and Super Mario Brothers. The exhibition is located at the Boca Raton Museum of Art at 501 Plaza Real, FL 33432 in Mizner Park. Metered parking is available in Mizner Park and free parking is available in all of the four parking garages.