mcgrew's Journal: Videogames as art?

From Yahoo News:

NEW YORKâ"The hallways of the Museum of Modern Art have always been packed with visitors looking to catch a glimpse of some of the most famous artwork in the world.

Van Goghâ(TM)s âoeStarry Nightâ is on display here, as are Andy Warholâ(TM)s âoeCampbellâ(TM)s Soup Cansâ and Monetâ(TM)s âoeWater Liliesââ"three celebrated images that have been replicated in countless prints and on postcards worldwide.

And just steps away, beginning next March, patrons will be able to observe the museumâ(TM)s latest high-profile acquisitionsâ"ones that they may have even owned. Last month, MoMa announced it would add 14 video games to its collection as part of a new design category that will display in the museumâ(TM)s Philip Johnson Galleries.

The titlesâ"including âoePac-Man,â âoeTetrisâ and âoeSimCity 2000ââ"mark the first of what museum officials say will be a collection of about 40 video games. Other games MoMa is hoping to acquire in coming years: âoeSuper Mario Bros,â âoeThe Legend of Zeldaâ and âoeSpace Invaders.â

The acquisition revives a long-simmering debate among critics, art aficionados and gamers: Is a video game really in the same category as a Picasso?

MoMA is good at stirring controversy

[damn_registrars]

Many years ago, MoMA also had the "Aeron" chair by Hermann Miller in their collection (at the same time they had the original VW Beetle). I was working at a university at the time and some of our offices had said chair in them - which was about as expensive (in some cases, less) as any other comparable task chair for full-time employees who spend most of their time sitting.

Then a local news station was looking to boost ratings and heard we had said chair. They did a report on how our university was pu

Re:

[rk]

Street price 900 bucks or less, 12 year unconditional warranty, or I can buy a cheap-ass 150 dollar office chair and replace it once a year. Aeron chairs are a sound purchase, especially when you consider how much they cost on a per hour of use: 900 / (2000 * 12) (assuming you're not running a 24/7 call center, which the warranty still applies to) is basically 4 cents an hour.