Kotaku: into the pixel

Into the Pixel Exhibition

Maggie Greene — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:40:00 MDT

Into the Pixel is a juried art exhibition that selects sixteen works of video game art to be displayed both digitally and in actual exhibits, like the one currently at E3. The exhibit is an opportunity for video and computer game artists to showcase their work and receive critical feedback from both digital and fine art experts; it also showcases the actual visual art of games in creative and unique ways. The pieces range from playful to serious, and utilize a variety of visual styles to convey their subjects. Now in its fifth year, the selected entries are usually quite impressive, and this year was no exception.

The exhibition hall was quiet compared to the chaos both above and below it — a few people wandered through, but it was otherwise silent. The exhibition included some of the winners from the 2007 competition (including my personal favorite, "Defeated Dragon" by Daniel Dociu (Guild Wars)), and it was nice to see the art in large format. Four of the sixteen entries were takes on Guild Wars (I was particularly fond of the one entitled "Four Knights" by Richard Anderson); also covered were games like flOw, Fallout 3, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and untitled DS game (seen at the top; "Puzzle World Twilight" by Jay Epperson).

The exhibition will be headed to E for All in October, but you can all see the winning entries over at the Into the Pixel website, which also includes archives of art and commentary from previous years. A few selections from the silent gallery hall are below.

Viva Pinata Into The Pixel Piece Fetches Big Bucks

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:20:00 MST

The Into The Pixel art showcase at DICE featured plenty of wonderful artwork from beloved games like God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life 2 and Rayman's Raving Rabbids, each up for auction. The piece that looked to grab the biggest bucks was the Viva PInata digital painting seen above, which closed at $1400. The winner? None other than Epic Games' Mark Rein, who hovered near the bidding sheet like a hungry wolf until the auction closed, growling at anyone who attempted to outbid him. My choice? It would've been the Team Fortress 2 piece seen after the jump.

Want to get digital copies for yourself? They're available for download at the official Into The Pixel web site.

Into the Pixel Artists Chat About Games and Art

Maggie Greene — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 14:30:06 MDT

Into the Pixel is an exhibit featuring 16 works of game-related art, and Gamasutra has a discussion with three of the sixteen up Ryan Stevenson (Rare Ltd.), Mike McCarthy (Lionhead Studios), and Cheol Joo Lee (Relic Entertainment) are all concept artists, and who each bring a unique take on their media to the table. The topic of the discussion is (of course) video game art, the process of creation, and video games-as-art. Unsurprisingly, there are several different takes on that currently popular question:

"I think some games are art and some are just entertainment, just like in the film industry," he says. "There are action movies that don't really say anything but entertain you, while there are films that can move you, make you laugh and cry, change your life.
"Maybe we've become too obsessed with the question 'are games art?' and should just appreciate it as a medium like no other," Stevenson suggests. "The industry is always changing, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens once people see past the technology we use to produce the game and see the care and love we put into the art."

The ITP show will be exhibited to the public at the E for All Expo, but you can take a look at the current crop (as well as the 2004-2006 collections) on the ITP website.

Into The Pixel: The Artists Speak [Gamasutra]