STANFORD, CALIFORNIA.- Computer games and the narratives that propel them are the focus of an exhibition that opened November 12 at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. "Fictional Worlds, Virtual Experiences: Storytelling and Computer Games," on view in three galleries through March 28, 2004, is scheduled to coincide with two related exhibitions at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco that open in late January 2004. The exhibition is made possible by the Lynn Krywick Gibbons Gallery Exhibition Fund and the Cantor Arts Center members.
Computer games are among the newest vehicles for telling stories and creating virtual worlds. This interdisciplinary and interactive exhibition lays out the history and cultural importance of interactive simulations, computer games, and video games, proposing that they represent the emerging narrative form and communication medium of the early 21st century. Physical artifacts, a timeline, and video clips will demonstrate how text, graphics, and interactivity have established a narrative framework in computer games. The exhibition features the projection of a networked, "massively multiplayer" virtual world, and interactive game stations immerse visitors in the storytelling aspects of games, while challenging them to contemplate the history and the future of virtual gaming.
The exhibition derives from research of the "How They Got Game Project" at the Stanford Humanities Laboratory, a project seeking a path-finding narrative for the historical and critical appreciation of computer and video games. "Fictional Worlds" is guest-curated by Dr. Henry Lowood, Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections, Stanford University Libraries, in collaboration with Casey Alt, graduate student in the Program for History and Philosophy of Science.
"The Cantor Arts Center encourages Stanford University faculty and students to utilize the museum for research and as a showcase for campus initiatives," said Patience Young, the curator for education who is the coordinating curator for the exhibition. "This show bridges the worlds of art and technology in ways that we expect to be provocative and informative for museum visitors of all ages and backgrounds."