Never Alone at the MoMA Explores Video Games, Interactive Design and Human Connection
Technology and video games often bear the connotation of being isolating, closing their users off from “actual” human connection.
But at its core, interactive design was created to bring people closer together. This idea is explored in Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design, on view in the Museum of Modern Art through this summer.
Between visits to the masterpieces of artists like Picasso and Van Gogh, play some of your favorite video games and learn about interactive design.
The exhibition explores how interactive design transforms and influences our experiences and interactive design’s role in connecting people together.
As visitors walk through, they’ll be able to learn how the input, the designer and the player come together to bring experiences to life through technology. The items featured in Never Alone were selected from the museum’s collection as ground-breaking examples of interactive design.
See 35 video games from yesterday and today alongside other examples of interactive design. And, of course, some of the video games are available to play for yourself.
The ten video games available for play are certainly a highlight of the exhibition.
Parents and kids can bond over playing classic games, like Pac-Man and Tempest, while learning about the connections between the player’s input and the digital world.
Play world-building games, like SimCity 2000 and Minecraft, as examples of the player’s role in bringing a game to life.
Puzzle over Getting Over It, Flower and Everything Is Going To Be Okay as they present stark contrasts of how video game designers can use the medium in different ways to accomplish different goals.
Kids and adults alike will love the opportunity to play these video games. And, through playing these games, visitors can see firsthand how design and even the players themselves can play a role in the success of a game.
In addition, visitors will get the chance to see other examples of interactive design through the years, including computer interfaces, icons, apps, computer terminals and more.
Senior curator Paola Antonelli said the exhibition is meant to showcase how interactive design runs through different aspects of our lives.
“The interfaces we use to access the digital universe are visual and tactile manifestations of code that both connect and separate us, and shape the way we behave and perceive life,” Antonelli says in a press release. “Ever since digital tools have become ubiquitous, interactive design has become the conduit to systems of all kinds, from communication and information to transportation, supply, and more. It is in the touch commands on the screen of an ATM machine or of a smartphone, and in the interface of an ICU monitor. Interactive design runs a great part of our lives.”
Whether you’re a technology buff yourself or you have kids who can’t get enough of different video games, plan to make a visit to Never Alone while it’s still on view at the Museum of Modern Art. Who knows: maybe you’ll leave the museum with a new favorite video game to play at home.
Location:
11 W 53rd St. in Manhattan
Hours:
Sunday through Friday, 10:30 am to 5:30 pm
Saturday, 10:30 am 7 pm
Admission:
Adults – $25
Seniors and visitors with disabilities – $18
Students (full time with ID) – $14
Children (16 and under) – Free
Admission to Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design, is included with general admission to the Museum of Modern Art. Through July 16th, 2023.
Psst… Plan a Visit to the Museum of Broadway, every theatre fan’s dream come true!
