IndieCade East 2015

The legitimation process of a new medium as an accepted form of art is often accelerated by its use and adaptation from traditionally acclaimed artists. Exploring the process of acceptance of other mediums from popular culture, such as cinema, television and comic books, into the art world, we can trace historical parallels between these mediums and videogames, starting with the work of pioneers, followed by commercialisation, adaptation of the medium by artists, and the medium’s maturation with the rise of auteurs. In recent years, traditional videogames and indie games have been included in exhibitions at specialty museums or as design objects, but are conspicuously absent from postmodern and contemporary art museums. However, we already see examples of so-called videogame art being exhibited in such museums. Artists such as Cory Arcangel, Eddo Stern, Anne-Marie Schleiner, Brody Condon and Feng Mengbo have explored the unique characteristics of videogames in their practices, modding and adapting the medium, and its surrounding culture, to their needs. In this talk, I aim to give a historical perspective of videogame art, and trace its influence on the process of artistic legitimation of the videogame medium.