Play and the Exhibition: The problematic fun of showcasing of videogames in informal and formal contexts

This paper contributes to the developing body of videogame exhibition knowledge by evaluating the methods utilised within informal and formal contexts of videogames exhibition from the perspective of reception theory. The study of both large-scale exhibitions such as those by the Victoria and Albert museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum alongside the one-night indie game night is a unique contribution to the field, with studies typically focussing on one given context. Reception theory and the hermeneutic circle provide lenses through which the active participative role of the player/reader in meaning-making can be evaluated. Exhibition method analysis across formal and informal contexts allows modelling of a connection between the need for player/reader specialist knowledge and the resulting co-participation in meaning-making possible. These models suggest the ways that exhibition methods and settings can shape audience profiles and the potential for co-participation. The results of this study may provide curators and game developers with alternative modes of thinking about player/reader meaning co-participation across exhibition and audience contexts.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Gregor White

Lynn H. C Love

Clare Brennan

Conference

Publication date: July 2020

Publication date (Print): July 2020

Pages: 40-47

Affiliations

[0001]Abertay University

Bell Street, Dundee, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2020.6

SO-VID: 04b014e4-56cc-42b0-ac66-7dfc12cb0a3a

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of EVA London 2020

Conference acronym: EVA 2020

Conference number: 30

Conference location: London

Conference date: 6th July – 9th July 2020

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: AI and the Arts: Artificial Imagination

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2020.6

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

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P Antonelli 2012 Video Games: 14 in the Collection, for Starters https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/11/29/video-games-14-in-the-collection-for-starters/ 2 March 2020
Beta-public.com About http://www.beta-public.com/about-1 22 February 2020
C BrennanD Holford-Lovell 2016 Dealing with disobedient objects D England T SchiphorstN Bryan-Kinns Curating the digital: space for art and interaction Springer International Publishing Switzerland 21 30 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28722-5_3
Babycastles.com 2020 Current Exhibition: Chaotic Interfaces https://www.babycastles.com/chaoticinterfaces 02 March 2020
Chaotic Interfaces 2020 [Exhibition] Babycastles New York 18 January 2020 14 March 2020
Decoding space: technology, interaction and performance 2015 [Exhibition] Abertay University 16 March 2015 10 April 2015
Design/Disrupt/Play 2018 [Exhibition] V&A London 8 September 2018 24 February 2019
T Eagleton 1996 Literary Theory: an introduction 2nd Blackwell Publishing ltd Oxford
T Faber 2019 When does a video game become art? https://www.ft.com/content/c1da6f1e-b206-11e9-b2c2-1e116952691a 10 March
Game Masters 2012 [Exhibition] Australian Centre for the Moving Image Melbourne 28 June 2012 28 October 2012
Game On! 2002 [Exhibition] Barbican, London 16 May 2002 15 September 2002
Gameon2019.com 2019 First International Think Tank for curators and producers of cultural video game events http://www.gameon2019.com/#gaia 21 January 2020
B Graham 2014 New Collecting: Exhibiting and Audiences after New Media Art Ashgate Farnham
R GreenbergB. W FergusonS Nairne 1996 Thinking about exhibitions Routledge London
Goddard & Muscat 2016 Designing Unconventional Use of Conventional Displays in Games: Some Assembly Required 1st International Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG conference proceedings 2016 Dundee UK 1 August 6 August 2016
L Hardwick 2003 Reception Studies Oxford University Press Oxford
C HeathD Vom Lehn 2004 Configuring Reception: (Dis-)Regarding the ‘Spectator’ Museums and Galleries Theatre, Culture and Society 21 6 43 65 https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404047415
D., C Hoy 1982 The Critical Circle: Literature, history and philosophical hermeneutics University of California Press Berkely
H Jauss 1982 Toward an Aesthetic of Reception T Bahti University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis
Lifespans: forever and ever 2018 [Exhibition] NEoN Digital Arts Festival, Dundee 6 November 2018 18 November 2018
L.H.C Love 2018 Do We Need Permission to Play in Public? The Design of Participation for Social Play Video Games at Play Parties and ‘Alternative’ Games Festivals Media and Communication: Games Matter? Current Theories and Studies on Digital Games, 6 2 69 79 http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i2.1382
LHC LoveM Bozdog 2018 A three person poncho and a set of maracas: designing Ola De La Vida, a co-located social play computer game. in DiGRA 2018 conference proceedings. DIGRA, Digital Games Research Association Conference 2018 Turin, Italy 25 07 18
F Manacorda 2016 For Whom Do We Write Exhibitions? Towards a museum as commons Stedelijk Studies 4 1 8
J Newman 2009 Save the videogame! The national videogame archive: preservation, supersession and obsolescence M/C Journal: A journal of media and culture 12 2
Now Play This 2016 [Exhibition] Somerset House London 1 April 2016 3 April 2016
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P Pedercini 2019 CAN YOU BE LIKE LIKELIKE? https://molleindustria.org/likelike/ 1 March 2020
E., M Reed 2018 Exhibition Strategies for Videogames in Art Institutions: Blank Arcade 2016 ToDiGRA: Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association 4 2 103 135 https://doi.org/10.26503/todigra.v4i2.91
J Reeve 2013 From museum as text to museum as experience? How to Communicate Museum Texts workshop Rovinj, Croatia 17 May 2013 Rovinj Heritage Museum Rovinj
S Romuldo 2017 Curating the Arcade: strategies for the exhibition of videogames International Journal of Film and Media Arts 1 2 24 37
K SalenE Zimmerman 2004 Rules of Play: game design fundamentals MIT Press Books Massachusetts
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R Sharpe 1990 Where Interpretation Stops G McGregorR. S White Reception and Response: Hearer creativity and the analysis of spoken and written texts Routledgle London 181 195
N Simon 2010 The Participatory Museum Museum Santa Cruz
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] A Maze/Berlin 2019 A Maze website https://amazeberlin2019.sched.com/list/descriptions/ 22 February 2020

[2] P Antonelli 2012 Video Games: 14 in the Collection, for Starters https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/11/29/video-games-14-in-the-collection-for-starters/ 2 March 2020

[3] Beta-public.com About http://www.beta-public.com/about-1 22 February 2020

[4] C BrennanD Holford-Lovell 2016 Dealing with disobedient objects D England T SchiphorstN Bryan-Kinns Curating the digital: space for art and interaction Springer International Publishing Switzerland 21 30 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28722-5_3

[5] Babycastles.com 2020 Current Exhibition: Chaotic Interfaces https://www.babycastles.com/chaoticinterfaces 02 March 2020

[6] Chaotic Interfaces 2020 [Exhibition] Babycastles New York 18 January 2020 14 March 2020

[7] Decoding space: technology, interaction and performance 2015 [Exhibition] Abertay University 16 March 2015 10 April 2015

[8] Design/Disrupt/Play 2018 [Exhibition] V&A London 8 September 2018 24 February 2019

[9] T Eagleton 1996 Literary Theory: an introduction 2nd Blackwell Publishing ltd Oxford

[10] T Faber 2019 When does a video game become art? https://www.ft.com/content/c1da6f1e-b206-11e9-b2c2-1e116952691a 10 March

[11] Game Masters 2012 [Exhibition] Australian Centre for the Moving Image Melbourne 28 June 2012 28 October 2012

[12] Game On! 2002 [Exhibition] Barbican, London 16 May 2002 15 September 2002

[13] Gameon2019.com 2019 First International Think Tank for curators and producers of cultural video game events http://www.gameon2019.com/#gaia 21 January 2020

[14] B Graham 2014 New Collecting: Exhibiting and Audiences after New Media Art Ashgate Farnham

[15] R GreenbergB. W FergusonS Nairne 1996 Thinking about exhibitions Routledge London

[16] Goddard & Muscat 2016 Designing Unconventional Use of Conventional Displays in Games: Some Assembly Required 1st International Joint Conference of DiGRA and FDG conference proceedings 2016 Dundee UK 1 August 6 August 2016

[17] L Hardwick 2003 Reception Studies Oxford University Press Oxford

[18] C HeathD Vom Lehn 2004 Configuring Reception: (Dis-)Regarding the ‘Spectator’ Museums and Galleries Theatre, Culture and Society 21 6 43 65 https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404047415

[19] D., C Hoy 1982 The Critical Circle: Literature, history and philosophical hermeneutics University of California Press Berkely

[20] H Jauss 1982 Toward an Aesthetic of Reception T Bahti University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis

[21] Lifespans: forever and ever 2018 [Exhibition] NEoN Digital Arts Festival, Dundee 6 November 2018 18 November 2018

[22] L.H.C Love 2018 Do We Need Permission to Play in Public? The Design of Participation for Social Play Video Games at Play Parties and ‘Alternative’ Games Festivals Media and Communication: Games Matter? Current Theories and Studies on Digital Games, 6 2 69 79 http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i2.1382

[23] LHC LoveM Bozdog 2018 A three person poncho and a set of maracas: designing Ola De La Vida, a co-located social play computer game. in DiGRA 2018 conference proceedings. DIGRA, Digital Games Research Association Conference 2018 Turin, Italy 25 07 18

[24] F Manacorda 2016 For Whom Do We Write Exhibitions? Towards a museum as commons Stedelijk Studies 4 1 8

[25] J Newman 2009 Save the videogame! The national videogame archive: preservation, supersession and obsolescence M/C Journal: A journal of media and culture 12 2

[26] Now Play This 2016 [Exhibition] Somerset House London 1 April 2016 3 April 2016

[27] Now Play This 2019 [Exhibition] Somerset House London 6 April 2019 14 April 2019

[28] P Pedercini 2019 CAN YOU BE LIKE LIKELIKE? https://molleindustria.org/likelike/ 1 March 2020

[29] E., M Reed 2018 Exhibition Strategies for Videogames in Art Institutions: Blank Arcade 2016 ToDiGRA: Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association 4 2 103 135 https://doi.org/10.26503/todigra.v4i2.91

[30] J Reeve 2013 From museum as text to museum as experience? How to Communicate Museum Texts workshop Rovinj, Croatia 17 May 2013 Rovinj Heritage Museum Rovinj

[31] S Romuldo 2017 Curating the Arcade: strategies for the exhibition of videogames International Journal of Film and Media Arts 1 2 24 37

[32] K SalenE Zimmerman 2004 Rules of Play: game design fundamentals MIT Press Books Massachusetts

[33] J Sharp 2015 Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art MIT Press Books Massachusetts

[34] R Sharpe 1990 Where Interpretation Stops G McGregorR. S White Reception and Response: Hearer creativity and the analysis of spoken and written texts Routledgle London 181 195

[35] N Simon 2010 The Participatory Museum Museum Santa Cruz

[36] The Art of Video Games 2012 [Exhibition] Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington DC 16 March 2012 30 September 2012

[37] Wethrowswitches.com Games Are For Everyone https://www.wethrowswitches.com/gamesareforeveryone 10 March 2020

[38] E Zuckerman 2012 Video Games: Art-Tested, MoMA-Approved https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2012/11/video-games-art-tested-moma-approved/321022/ 3 March 2020

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