ALEX SPENCER
The Outer Limits
Journeys to the farthest reaches of interactive entertainment
Can art be games? Longtime readers of this column might remember my fondness for fiddling with the parameters of that hoary old question. This time last year, after attending the Now Play This exhibition at Somerset House, I was interested in how videogames function in the context of an art gallery; this time, though, let’s flip that on its head. How do art galleries hold up when they’re put into videogames?
The thought is prompted by The Zium Exposition, the latest instalment in an ongoing series of pay-what-you-want Itch.io games. Released every couple of years or so, each new Zium collects a fresh selection of digital art in a virtual gallery space, built in Unreal Engine and explored in firstperson, strafing and bunny hopping. Quake meets the Tate.