Revolution In The Bedroom @ The Hub

 

 

NCCD first ever to celebrate golden age of British video game industry

Revolution in the Bedroom, War in the Playground: Video Gaming 1979-1989
19 Oct 2013 to 5 Jan 2014 at The Hub in Sleaford
Our brand new exhibition will be the first ever to celebrate and explore the rise of the British video games industry. "Revolution" takes a unique starting point - home based or "bedroom" programming. We highlight the importance of the hardware and the creativity of the early pioneers of video gaming and the industry's importance to the arts and creative industries.
You can even go hands on with some of the exhibits and get gaming!
We focus on the golden years of '79 to '89. The gaming art form pioneered during that time is finally being recognised as a genuinely new form of aesthetics and storytelling. These British games wove a rich and diverse 8-bit tapestry full of working class heroes, political satire, and infuriatingly complex puzzles, and the narrative devices and internal physics they pioneered still stand out as innovative and utterly ground-breaking.
Our curators have brought together objects which capture the achievements of the British bedroom programming generation, and the material and promotional artwork that articulates the rich and creative culture that grew around the industry. We have working models of the Sinclair ZX81, ZXSpectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro and the Amstrad, arcade games, video game titles, manuals, user guides and popular fanzines of the time such as CRASH.
Some of the most influential, iconic or ground-breaking British video games from the era, such as Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy are profiled - have a go at Atic Atac, Ant Attack, Manic Miner, The Hobbit and The Wild Bunch. Four newly commissioned films show a series of interviews with never-before seen footage, featuring significant games designers telling their stories directly.
Original artwork and reproductions by iconic designer Oliver Frey are included, and a new commission from Turner Prize nominee Simon Patterson, who is producing a major new wall-based work in the exhibition space, will add a highly contemporary view point to the exhibition. The exhibition closes with a profile of some of the current games designed from the bedroom.
For full details and directions etc. see... www.nationalcraftanddesign.org.uk