Event Release
July 25, 2013
Center for Games & Impact brings video games to life at the Phoenix Art Museum
Creative play and impact experiences, events for museum visitors through Fall 2013
PHOENIX — The Center for Games & Impact (CGI) brings the art of gameplay to life at the Phoenix Art Museum in a series of events throughout “The Art of Video Games” exhibition, traveling here from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, through Sept. 29, 2013.
Media scholar Henry Jenkins said years ago, when his son turned on Super Mario Brothers for the first time, he knew “this was going to be a medium of enormous expressive capacity, of enormous social capacity. Video games were going to be the art form for the 21st century.”
The CGI team is collaborating with the Phoenix Art Museum to take the exploration of art and video games beyond the advances in visual aesthetics of the past 40 years. The events range from improvising new video game music together* while players are navigating thatgamecompany’s Flower (PS3), to working together to build digital art spontaneously in Mojang Studios’ Minecraft (multi-platform), to roundtable discussions on games and impact and how we can unlock the promise of digital learning for the future.
“Many players, while they love video games, may not have thought about the deeply creative play experiences they have with games. At the Center this kind of meaning drives what we do. In working with the Phoenix Art Museum we’re excited to provide Phoenix families with the chance to see how their interactions with video games are works of art, just as much as any one game is. The experiential nature of playing with this medium is something other media forms don’t offer, or can’t offer in quite the same way,” said Sasha Barab, CGI executive director, “We hope everyone will come play with us over the next few months and walk away thinking about the impact of gaming on our world in a whole new way.”
Games & Impact Art Museum Events
July 31, 2013, 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. – Intergenerational Play Event *limited seating, register here- Sept. 7, 2013, 9 a.m. – How Games Teach, Educator Workshop *limited seating, register here
- Sept. 20, 2013, 10 a.m. – The Art of Minecraft
- Sept 21, 2013, 11 a.m. – Games & Impact Roundtable
- Sept. 21, 2013 12 p.m. – The Art of Minecraft
Most events take place in the Great Hall of the Phoenix Art Museum (location map). Event costs are included with the price of general admission to the Museum though RSVP may be required depending on the event, check the Art of Video Games web page for more information. Contact, Sherry Thurston, administrative secretary, at (480) 965-0211, or by email at sherry.thurston@asu.edu, with questions.
About the Center for Games & Impact
The Center for Games & Impact (CGI) mission is to investigate, innovate, and cultivate game-infused solutions to society’s biggest challenges with the goal of unleashing the unique power of videogames to create sustainable solutions for society’s biggest social, cultural, scientific, economic and educational challenges.
Playing for Impact at Home
Level-up your play experience by downloading and using CGI Impact Guides for popular games such as Minecraft, Flower, and The Sims 3. Share your thoughts on the Games & Impact Facebook page or on Twitter (@gamesandimpact) with the tag #impactguides.
Games & Impact Online: gamesandimpact.org | facebook.com/gamesandimpact | @gamesandimpact | #gamesandimpact
Media Contact:
Juli James
(480) 965-0810
juli.james@asu.edu