The German company Aruba Events put into action what many gamers believed since ages: video games are art and art should be showcased. That is why Aruba Events showed some hand-picked video and computer game concept art at gamescom 2010, named "The Art of Games". From Monkey Island to Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Left 4 Dead, Mercenaries 2 and machinarium, there was something for everyone. We talked with General Manager Stephan Reichart about the exhibition's backgrounds.
Please give us a brief introduction to your company.
Aruba Events is Germany's leading agency for events in the game industry. Among other things we organize the "Deutscher Entwicklerpreis" (German Developer Awards) since 2004, since 2003 the most successful German developers conference "Quo Vadis" in Berlin as well as the first cultural festival in Europe for games since 2008, called "Living Games Festival".
How did you bring The Art of Games into being? What were your ambitions?
The idea for "The Art of Games" was created at the Living Games Festival, which we put on in July in the scope of Kulturhauptstadt 2010 RUHR.2010 in the Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum. There we had a smaller art exhibition of video games like Command & Conquer: Red Alert! and The Sims. We got so much positive feedback that we decided to extend the gallery and continue it under the name "The Art of Games".
In total, 50 art works from more than 20 games were on display. Could you name a few titles?
We could use art work from renowned international publishers such as Nintendo and Electronic Arts. But German companies as Bigpoint, Deck 13, Frogster and Daedalic responded to our request with great interest, as well. At the "The Art of Games" booth, visitors of gamescom 2010 could examine images from Battleforge, Machinarium, Monkey Island, Professor Layton, Tera etc.
At E3 an exhibition for video games called "Into The Pixel" takes place since several years now. After artists applied for a place in the gallery, selected art pieces might get a chance to be present. How did you draw up a shortlist for "The Art of Games"?
We specifically asked various publishers and developers for artworks and concept art of their games. The companies provided multiple graphics and in the next step we picked the ones, which were most aesthetic in our point of view. We wanted to cover several genres.
Which kind of audience do you keep in mind for "The Art of Games"?
Sophisticated gamers, who like to deal with the materia of art in games, but also collectors and lovers, who like to see as much of their favourite game as they can. If we accomplished to awaken attention of people for the artistic aspect in games, who never touched this media, then we are really happy.
What kind of background did you offer to the visitor of "The Art of Games“?
Plenty. We could give detailed information about on what basis, from which artist and with what kind of technique the art was made.
With a exhibition area of more than 150m² you could fill a whole museum or gallery. Are there any plans to continue the exhibition and to present video game art even outside of gamescom?
Yes, we definetely plan to continue "The Art of Games" as an established exhibition. To search for a fixed place of issue is one possibility. Because we first and foremost organize big events with Online Games Conference on 31th November and Deutscher Entwicklerpreis on the first of December being imminent, you cannot expect short-dated plans for "The Art of Games".
On the one hand games again and again come under fire in public. On the other hand efforts are made to to accredit games as art or cultural assets. What is your opinion in this case?
We definitely see games as cultural assets. The admission of the G.A.M.E. Bundesverband der Entwickler von Computerspielen (federal association of computer game developers) into the Council of Culture demonstrated that official institutions accepted the cultural relevance of games. Nevertheless video games - just as books and movies by the way - will always polarize. Just because games are cultural assets, it doesnt mean that every single games is valuable.
More photos from "The Art of Games" can be found in our gallery.
