Video Games & Art

The Last Brawl (2008) - R. Smith

Are video games art? They sure are, but they are also design, and a design approach is what we chose for this new foray into this universe. The games are selected as outstanding examples of interaction design—a field that MoMA has already explored and collected extensively, and one of the most important and oft-discussed expressions of contemporary design creativity. Our criteria, therefore, emphasize not only the visual quality and aesthetic experience of each game, but also the many other aspects—from the elegance of the code to the design of the player’s behavior—that pertain to interaction design.

MoMA: Video Games: 14 in the Collection, for Starters

Art games

Alien Garden (1982)

Jaron Lanier

Moondust (1983)

Jaron Lanier

LORNA (1983)

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Afternoon, a story (1987)

Michael Joyce

Trigger Happy (1998)

Thomson & Craighead

SOD (1999)

JODI

The Intruder (1999)

Natalie Bookchin

Mario Battle No. 1 (2000)

Myfanwy Ashmore

Facade (2005)

Michael Mateas & Andrew Stern, Procedural Arts

The Marriage (2006)

Rod Humble

Game, Game, Game And Again Game (2007)

Jason Nelson

POP Methodology Experiment 1 (2012)

Rob Lach

Game art

Super Mario Clouds (2002)

Cory Archangel

Level Sounds like Devil / Baby in Christ vs. His Father (2007)

Eddo Stern

Kool-Aid Man in Second Life (2010)

Jon Rafman

READY FOR ACTION: Grid #1 (2012)

Kent Sheely

Machinima

Diary of a Camper (1996)

United Ranger Films

KarmaPhysics<Elvis (2004)

Brody Condon

Molotov Alva and His Search for the Creator (2008)

Douglas Gayeton

Games recontextualized as art

From the MOMA show (2012):

Other shows