Hideo Kojima to speak at Smithsonian American Art Museum

[Ravi Singh]

So as you may know, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. will be holding an Art of Video Games exhibition beginning March 16 all the way through September 30. Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty will both be present. While its a shame that titles I find more artful such as Policenauts will not be present, this is still pretty cool.



Well, now its confirmed that Hideo Kojima himself will be speaking on March 17, 2012. Admission is free but sold out, sadly. What makes this very interesting is the fact that Kojima actually does not believe video games are art. As recently as June 2011, Hideo Kojima confirmed as such to Nintendo Power.

"So long as it is interactive, it is not art. I believe that art is an expression of the creator's inner self, to the point of obstinacy. It is the complete embodiment of the creator's personality ad his way of life. That is what makes it art. [...] That said, there are elements of art in game design."

Elements, but still not the whole package, Otacon. So I wonder if Kojima will talk about such elements or be contrarian and actually have a lecture on why he does not believe that video games are art. Or maybe he will have a fist fight with Will Wright.

SOURCE: Smithsonian

[packy17]

How is it "sold out" if it's free? When was this announced? I'm so finding a way to get in.

[Ravi Singh]

http://kojimagamefest.eventbrite.com/

There may still be ways in, but I don't know shit about the Smithsonian, so...

[packy17]

Yeah, I saw that. Basically I can take my chances and wait in the stand-by line. Seems like the only way since they aren't mailing out the tickets in advance.

[Ravi Singh]

Well, they might be lenient towards the press. They may be okay with you covering it for us. Not sure what kind of credentials they would want.

[packy17]

If you can figure that out, let me know. I haven't had a reason to go into DC for a while and it's pretty close to me.

[Ravi Singh]

I honestly have no idea. For example, E3 wants business cards and letters, Comic-Con just wants a link to your work, Konami for their Pre-E3 event probably wouldn't have cared but we just didn't know, etc.

[Jonathan]

Personally I'm not one to view Video Games (as a whole product) as art.

In my opinion, stringing together however many artistic elements a Game contains (even if elements are used to compliment each other, in MGS2's case) into one package doesn't make the package itself art, it just contains art.

EDIT:

I'm still on the fence about it, but that's at least what I think right now.
(It also kind of depends on which game is in question.)

[packy17]

I'll probably end up standing in line, if I can find someone who wants to go with me. I'm not walking around DC alone.

[John]

I knew I should've posted this on KPN last night.

[nickdaring]

I really like the discussion on this podcast with Film Crit Hulk discussing the Videogames as Art.

http://www.nerdist.com/2012/01/the-indoor-kids-27-are-videogames-art-with-film-crit-hulk/

That interview was a follow-up to this excellent article-
http://badassdigest.com/2011/11/29/film-crit-hulk-smash-hulk-vs-the-bat-shit-evolution-of-the-modern-warfare/

They come to the sorta conclusion that they could be art but it hasn't really happened yet.

The mechanics that makes games compelling and addictive often get in the way of creating a complete artistic expression.

I however think that the rare examples like Portal and MGS use the manipulative nature of games and the active mechanics as part of the overall artistic message.

Nick

[0nfio]

Art is whatever the fuck you want it to be, guys, didn't Andy Warhol teach you anything?

Kojima just defined what art was to him and, honestly, with that definition, I think he's saying people are art, not books or movies or paintings. He says a lot of dumb shit anyway, like anyone else.

Monkeys offering up whatever mentally malnourished scraps they can conjur regarding a three-letter word, like it validates something.

Silly, really.

[Zerim]

[Jonathan]

[Dagger]

Where the fuck is Kojima's other eye?