[Photo credit: Supercade Facebook]
Curated by Van Burnham, founder of Supercade, who is conducting a residency at the gallery, the exhibition traces the evolution of interactive technology from its earliest days. It coincides with the upcoming 50th anniversary of Atari’s home version of “Pong,” a milestone in gaming history.
“Fifty years ago, at this moment in time, the most powerful computer chip in the world was being developed to play a single simple game: ‘Pong,'” Burnham said in a statement released by Ayzenberg Group.”The first home gaming console was released in 1972, but Atari’s Home Pong released in 1975 truly ignited the now $200 billion game industry.”
The exhibition features a comprehensive display of important TV Ping-Pong systems, from the Magnavox Odyssey to Russian “Tournament” Bentley Computervision. It also includes an immersive timeline of key events and a recreation of the “Atari Expands Worldwide” promotional flyer.
Visitors can experience a live interactive installation called Psychedelic Super Pong, created in collaboration with video artist Josh Randall. The show also includes selected prints from Ira Nowinski’s photo series “Bay Area Video Arcades,” on digital loan from Stanford University Library, along with playable arcade machines from 1980-1981.
Microsoft is sponsoring the exhibition, underscoring the tech giant’s commitment to preserving gaming history. A separate display highlighting the early development of Microsoft Games will be added in September, featuring vintage computers running iconic software like “Microsoft Flight Simulator,” “Solitaire,” and “Age of Empires.”
Following a private reception, the exhibition opens to the public on Aug. 17-18 and will run through Sept. 29. It will be open every weekend thereafter.
Tickets will be available via Eventbrite for a donation, with details available on the sp[a]ce gallery website, https://space.ayzenberg.com/.
Supercade, founded with the publication of “Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age” in 2001, is dedicated to the history and future of games. Burnham also oversees the Supercade Collection, one of the most significant private collections of video and computer games.
The exhibition is part of a collaboration between Supercade, Ayzenberg Group, and sp[a]ce gallery to support the development of the Supercade Museum, which aims to be the first world-class interactive museum dedicated to games. More information can be found at www.supercademuseum.org.
The Ayzenberg Group’s sp[a]ce gallery is located at 39 E. Walnut Street in Old Pasadena, and provides a venue for discovery, interaction, and inspiration in an environment created by Corsini Stark Architects.
