Recently CCP released the video that was used in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 2013.
EVE Online was selected as part of a small group of video games to be entrees in the “Applied Design exhibition” for the MoMA. Only 13 other video games were selected, ranging from classics like Pac-Man, Tetris, Myst, SimCity 2000 to modern masterpieces like Portal. The selections were made consulting a range of experts. The exhibit will grow with successive years to include other games, but EVE Online was part of the first exhibition.
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…
In order to develop an even stronger curatorial stance, over the past year and a half we have sought the advice of scholars, digital conservation and legal experts, historians, and critics, all of whom helped us refine not only the criteria and the wish list, but also the issues of acquisition, display, and conservation of digital artifacts that are made even more complex by the games’ interactive nature. This acquisition allows the Museum to study, preserve, and exhibit video games as part of its Architecture and Design collection.
Finally, some of the games we have acquired (for instance Dwarf Fortress and EVE Online) take years and millions of people to manifest fully. To convey their experience, we will work with players and designers to create guided tours of these alternate worlds, so the visitor can begin to appreciate the extent and possibilities of the complex gameplay.
Paola Antonelli
Senior Curator
Department of Architecture and Design
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
As part of the exhibit, CCP made this great video showing the breadth and depth of this great universe we all inhibit. For this video, CCP collected entry material from players for one specific day, December 9, 2012. The video was also filled with graphics depicting that day in other forms; kills, poddings; jumps; emails; ships destroyed, etc. The result is 24hrs in EVE, all in a short video.
