EA: The Sims as Medium of Art

In a move reminiscent of the game-centric "I Am 8-Bit" art event, Electronic Arts has announced the latest direction for its popular The Sims franchise: art exhibitions. Students from Parsons The New School for Design in New York, Academy of Art University in San Francisco and Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles are eligible to submit pieces of Sim-based artwork for consideration into a series of exhibits, titled The Sims: In the Hands of Artists, with a total of $12,000 in prize money awarded at each school's showing. Potential entries are split into two categories: machinima, animated films of 1-5 minutes created via the movie making tool included in The Sims 2 (PC), and more traditional art, such as paintings, illustrations, sculptural work, fashion designs, cinematography, and art displays. Entrants in the machinima category will be provided with a complimentary copy of The Sims 2. "The Sims games celebrate creativity--encouraging players to create their own world as they play though the game. We've seen fans make everything from their dream home, to story-driven movies using The Sims as their medium," explained Nancy Smith, general manager of EA's The Sims division. "Putting a creative tool like The Sims in the hands of emerging artists opens up a whole new world of possibilities--we can't wait to see what the students come up with." Traditional art will be judged by representatives from the schools and EA on the basis of narrative or expressive content, appropriateness to theme, technical ability, originality, and appropriate use of music and/or sound. Two prizes will be awarded per school in the traditional art category, a $2,500 first prize and a $1,500 second prize. Meanwhile, the machinima shorts will be judged on narrative or expressive content, character design, art direction, originality, and appropriate use of music and/or sound. Three prizes will be awarded per school in the machinima category, a $5,000 first prize, a $2,000 second prize, and a $1,000 third prize. Should there be tie in either category, the piece with the highest ranking in originality will win. Sponsored by Ford Motor Company, entries from the Parsons The New School for Design will be on display at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York on April 19, 2007 to May 12, 2007. Submissions from Academy of Art University will be shown at 79 Gallery in San Francisco on June 26, 2007 to July 19, 2007, with Ben Matlz in Los Angeles displaying the work of Otis College of Art and Design July 14, 2007 through August 11, 2007.