Interview: Andreas Broegger: Game Art is the real space invader

GameScenes is conducting a series of interviews with artists, critics, curators, and gallery owners operating in the field of Game Art, as part of an ongoing investigation of the social history of this fascinating artworld. Our goal is to illustrate the genesis and evolution of a phenomenon that changed the way game-based art is being created, experienced, and discussed today.

The conversation between Mathias Jansson and Andreas Broegger, the curator for the exhibition Space Invaders (November 11 2011 - January 29 2012, Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Denmark) took place via email in November 2011.

The exhibition features an incredible line-up: Jeremy Bailey, Pippin Barr, Aram Bartholl, Troels Hugo Cederholm/DADIU, Will Crowther & Don Woods, Die Gute Fabrik, Mark Essen, Harun Farocki, Cao Fei, Søren Thilo Funder, Riley Harmon, Timothy Hutchings, Michael Johansson, David Kraftsow, Walter Langelaar, Ludic Society, Media Molecule, Naughty Dog, Julian Oliver, Guillaume Reymond, Rockstar Games, Taito, Jacob Tækker, Valve Software, Marieke Verbiesen, Bill Viola + USC Game Innovation Lab.

GameScenes: The Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center is a peculiar place - it used to be a church, if I am correct... How did it become an art institution? A "total conversion", to use a game analogy.

Andreas Broegger: The Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center is located in the former Nikolaj Church at Nikolaj Plads in the centre of Copenhagen. This is the third oldest church in the city, so it has a rich history. For the last two-hundred years the building hasn't served as a church, but instead variously as a fire station, city library, city museum, and since 1981 it has been an art center. Since at least the 1990s the main focus has been contemporary art, presenting 5-7 exhibitions per year with Danish and international contemporary artists. Often the exhibitions feature installations, video and multimedia works, and often there is a focus on political issues and new developments relevant to our culture. Space Invaders is a good example of this. Besides exhibitions, Nikolaj also hosts concerts, performances, lectures, debates, workshops and other events.

GameScenes: Space Invaders was first produced by NetherlandsMedia Art Institute. But the exhibition has been changing, growing, and mutating in the last few years. In a sense, the event opening at Nikolaj can be described as version 2.0. What are the differences with the original exhibition?

Andreas Broegger: "Space Invaders" was originally curated by Heather Corcoran (FACT) and Petra Heck from the Netherlands Media Art Institute a(NiMK). It was first shown at FACT in Liverpool in 2009-2010 and then at NiMK in Amsterdam in fall 2010. For the exhibition in Nikolaj Kunsthal I worked with Heather Corcoran to update the exhibition and I have had to adapt it to Nikolaj Kunsthal's specific context. Since 2009 a lot of interesting new work has been produced and we really wanted this to be reflected in this exhibition. For instance, the Dutch artist Marieke Verbiesen finished her installation "Pole Position" just a few months ago, so I got in touch with her. And of course, Harun Farocki's "Serious Games I-IV" video project, which explores the use of computer simulations in the training of American soldiers for invasions, is a recent work which really should not be missed!

GameScenes: What is the theme of Space Invaders 2011-2012?

Andreas Broegger: The show focuses on the blurred boundaries between digital and physical space as seen in both commercial and indie games, and in artworks which are either inspired by or are in themselves playable games. The mixed reality of combined virtual and physical environments is more and more central to how we understand and interact with others and with the world around us. And in games, as in art, there are interesting experiments going on in this very area. The idea behind the exhibition is not to debate whether games can be art, because it is obvious that they can be, but if a side-effect of this exhibition is that more people realize the potential of computer games as not just a mindless waste of time, but as a valid platform for creating statements about anything really, including culture, politics and art, then something has been accomplished on that level too. While we hope that people familar with art, but unfamiliar with the world of games, will appreciate games in a new perspective through this exhibition, we also hope that experienced gamers will appreciate what contemporary art has to offer in the domain of games.

GameScenes: Compared to version 1.0, the new Space Invaders features a considerable higher number of Danish artists, e.g. Søren Thilo Funder and Pippin Barr. Is the Danish Game Art scene as lively and vibrant as the German or the Swedish ones?

Andreas Broegger: Besides the wish to update Space Invaders with work by Verbiesen and Farocki, as mentioned above, there are also a number of significant Danish artists and game developers in the new show. Jacob Tækker and Søren Thilo Funder are usually considered video artists, but have produced interesting work which relates to computer games on certain levels. And then there is the Danish games developing scene where companies like Playdead, Press Play and the Copenhagen Game Collective, among others are producing really creative games. We've included the game Johann Sebastian Joust by Die Gute Fabrik, also based here in Copenhagen, as well as the game The Artist is Present by Copenhagen-based developer Pippin Barr. Both games are great examples of how games are being used creatively to rethink how we relate to each other, to the screen, to notions of space, and in Pippin Barr's work to art more specifically. Finally, we've included the game Broken Dimensions which was developed by a group of graduate students at DADIU (The National Acadey for Digital, Interactive Entertainment).

GameScenes: The Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center has also created a special program around the exhibition. What are the highlights?

Andreas Broegger: We have a "Bring Your Own Game" event on Saturday December 3rd from 14-16 which should be very exciting. A collector of old consoles and hand-held games, Ole Mogensen, will show up with goodies from his collection, and people are invited to bring their own special games. In January we have an urban treasure hunt on Saturday the 14th and on Thursday the 26th there is an expanded Spilbar event, which brings together a lot of game developers for short presentations and networking. Marieke Verbiesen and Walter Langelaar, two Dutch artists in Space Invaders, will also be there. On Thursday November 17 I gave a curator's tour of the exhibition and on Saturday November 19 we hosted a debate with Nils Deneken (Die Gute Fabrik), Pippin Barr, Lau Korsgaard (Copenhagen Game Collective) and Thomas Vigild (games reviewer for Danish daily newspaper Politiken. Both events had a really good amount of attendants so we feel like these events are really relevant. They are open to the public of course, so please come by Nikolaj! :)

Link: Space Invaders @ Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Denmark, November 11 2011 - January 29 2012.

Interview archives: Contemporary Practitioners; The Early Years

Game Art Events: Ongoing & Upcoming

Text by Mathias Jansson

Editing: Matteo Bittanti