Columbia College Chicago Exhibitions: Game Art vs. Art Game and Skillshot: The Collaborative Art of Pinball

Rob Karlic (BA '05). Twilight Zone. Digital photograph, 2016.

CHICAGO (Aug. 9, 2016) – Columbia College Chicago presents two game-based exhibitions: Game Art vs. Art Game, Aug. 18 – Oct. 28, an exhibition focused on experimental video game works created by game designers and fine artists, and Skillshot: The Collaborative Art of Pinball, Sept. 6 – Nov. 5, an exhibition celebrating the multidisciplinary nature of pinball machines as interactive artworks.

“Both exhibitions seek to expand the types of work typically exhibited in the gallery context by bringing game-makers, who may have never exhibited, together with fine artists that are well known within the arts community,” said Meg Duguid, Director of Exhibitions for Columbia’s Department of Exhibitions, Performance and Student Spaces (DEPS).

Organized by Video Game Art Gallery (VGA), Game Art vs. Art Game will showcase two types of work: games that demonstrate profound cultural significance or that bridge the gap between games, entertainment and art, and game art from fine artists who work within the interactive medium of video games. This exhibition will place both types in a close physical space, forcing a comparison and rivalry between the two.

Also a collaborative medium, pinball machines will be the focus of Skillshot, which will highlight the rich history of the pinball industry and its relationship with popular culture through historical writings, documentary videos, zines, fine art and related programming. Skillshot will feature pinball machines from a range of eras, as well as contemporary artworks inspired by pinball.

“These exhibitions will also explore the conversation around diversity and inclusion within game-culture by not only selecting a diverse roster of artists in the exhibits, but with a panel on how pinball and gaming leagues navigate diversity within its players,” said Duguid.

The interactive exhibitions will coincide throughout the fall and include additional programming intended to engage audiences and viewers through a range of activities and thought-provoking discussion.

WHEN
Game Art vs. Art Game: Aug. 18 – Oct. 28
Reception: Sept. 23, 6-9 p.m. Exhibition tour at 7:30 p.m.
Skillshot: The Collaborative Art of Pinball: Sept. 6 – Nov. 5
Reception: Sept. 23, 6-9 p.m.

WHERE
Game Art vs. Art Game: The Arcade, 618 S. Michigan Ave., 2nd floor
Skillshot: The Collaborative Art of Pinball: The Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., 1st floor

Game Art vs. Art Game artists and participants include:
• Pippin Barr
• Jonathan Blow
• Cardboard Computer
• Porpentine Charity Heartscape
• Hannah Leja Epstein (hanski)
• Nina Freeman & Joni Kittaka
• Ryan & Amy Green (Numinous Games)
• Feng Mengbo
• Michaël Samyn & Auriea Harvey (Tale of Tales)
• David van Brink
• Hunter Jonakin
• JODI

Skillshot: The Collaborative Art of Pinball artists and participants include:
• Rosemarie Fiore
• Doug Watson
• Greg Freres
• Jon Chad
• Alec Longstreth
• Angela Drokba (The Trophy Witch)
• Stern Pinball Inc.
• 12 for 12
• Dirty Donnie
• Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti)
• Rob Karlic
• Gene X Hwang

Exhibition Contact: Meg Duguid, Director of Exhibitions, mduguid@colum.edu, 312.369.8686

Programming:

The Game About Diversity
October 6, 4-6pm
Conaway Center, 1104 S Wabash Ave, 1st Floor
This panel is a cross conversation between our current exhibitions Game Art vs Art Game and Skillshot: The Collaborative Art of Pinball as we explore how pinball and gaming leagues navigate diversity within its players, along with possible solutions to bringing together players of different communities. This panel is moderated by Echa Schneider, founder of the first women’s pinball league Belles and Chimes, and includes Keisha Howard, founder of the female gamer's community Sugar Gamers, Jamie Sanchez, co-founder of Voxelles, a gaming league focused on fostering gender diversity in the gaming industry, Brice Puls, Exhibitions Manager of The Video Game Art Gallery, Amanda Hamrick, Columbia College Chicago student and Interactive Arts and Media major, and Whitney Pow, Ph.D. student in Screen Cultures at Northwestern University.

Game Night
October 21, 6-9pm
Held in Conjunction with Columbia Weekend’s Wabash Arts Corridor (WAC) Crawl
Glass Curtain Gallery and The Arcade
Organized by The International Flipper Pinball Association, Gaming Night for Skillshot will include a tournament/fundraiser for Project Pinball, a charity organization that places pinball machines in children’s hospitals, in the Glass Curtain Gallery. Simultaneously in The Arcade, VGA Gallery will also host an evening of game play with Game Art vs. Art Game curators.

Founded in 2013 in the lively game community of Chicago, Video Game Art (VGA) Gallery seeks to increase cultural appreciation and education about one of the most important mediums of the 21st century -- video games --through exhibition, study, and sale. VGA Gallery is an Illinois 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

The Department of Exhibitions, Performance and Student Spaces (DEPS) is the College’s student-centered galleries, performance venues and art boutique. The spaces are hubs for social, educational and cultural activities for all Columbia students and the broader community. As an extension of the classroom, DEPS incorporates the College’s curriculum by building programs with academic departments combining theory with practice. Through civic engagement, DEPS connects students and the college to local, national and international partners to provide experiential learning and professional development through collaboration. The spaces present innovative and accessible programs and opportunities for students, the college and beyond.

Columbia College Chicago is a private, nonprofit college offering a distinctive curriculum that blends creative and media arts, liberal arts and business for more than 8,000 students in more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Dedicated to academic excellence and long-term career success, Columbia College Chicago creates a dynamic, challenging and collaborative space for students who experience the world through a creative lens. For more information, visit www.colum.edu.

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Media Contact: Danielle Wilcox, 312.369.7937, dwilcox@colum.edu

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