Interview with WWWunderkammer
Published by WWWunderkammer here on February 21, 2019.
The Importance of the Context. Interview with Jonathan Kinkley of VGA Art Gallery
Posted On February 21, 2019
What makes an object an artwork? Some would say the expertise behind its making, others would suggest the original intention of the makers would play a crucial role in defining it as “art” while another group of experts claim it’s the context that really makes the difference. Dadaists played with this idea one century ago and we still try to recover from those experiments. It may seem a long shot, but Duchamp’s Fountain was the first thing I came to think about when I learned about the Chicago-based VGA Gallery. Founded in 2013, it “seeks to increase cultural appreciation, education of video games and new media through exhibition, study, critique, and sale”. I got in contact with Jonathan Kinkley, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the gallery to learn more about what it means to open a commercial art venue focused on a medium rather new for highbrow art history.
Jonathan, you already had experience with art galleries before opening VGA Gallery. Do you think there are crucial differences between running a traditional art venue and one focused on video games culture?
Yes, I will say that there is a lot more tech in our exhibitions that many others in traditional spaces: projectors, consoles, flatscreens, computers, media players, controllers etc though that most of the art-going public may not be used to. But fundamentally no, I think it’s important for games to be considered in a gallery setting, which positions them as artistic and cultural objects worthy of reflection, appreciation and criticism. People need to see games in a white cube, with track lights, hardwood floors, symbols that people associate with art spaces. By doing this and thinking of games within that context, I think the quality of the conversation and the quality of games themselves improves.
What has been the most challenging project you hosted? How did you overcome the difficulties?
Chicago New Media 1973-1992 curated by Jon Cates and assisted by Chaz Evans and I, was our most challenging project due to the sheer scale. It had a massive checklist, massive technology requirements, and required a great deal of research and study to write and publish the catalogue. It was a truly epic and memorable project though and brought together Chicago’s games and new media community past and present almost like a family reunion. So much great art!
Currently you host Polymorphism: Queer Encounters of Intimacy in Games, an exhibition exploring oblique game mechanics in relation to queer culture. I understand you take a stand against some macho approach to video games in terms of design and aesthetics.
The exhibition was curated by VGA Manager of Exhibitions Brice Puls. I will say that at VGA we are committed to the exploration of all games of significance. With the explosion of independent games there have been games of every stripe created. Brice has brought together a collection of 15 games that is the most games we’ve ever exhibited in a show at VGA itself, and some are funny, some are introspective, some powerful, and all sexually charged and focused in nature. It does come with a mature warning so we recommend visitors be of adults or accompanied by adults due to the subject matter.
All images © VGA Gallery
