Pixels and paintings: video games return to the V&A

The Victoria & Albert Museum recently hosted a vibrant "Friday Late" event, a vivid testament to the growing cultural significance of video games. From the playful chaos of "Sex With Friends" to innovative live-coded music, this celebration of play and performance seamlessly blended digital entertainment with the museum's historic grandeur, underscoring gaming's powerful influence.

Upon entering the V&A's magnificent dome, with ancient statues visible through nearby arches, guests were immediately immersed in an auditory and visual spectacle. A programmer/DJ from London Live Coding was generating a glitchy electronic music set in real-time, with large LED screens displaying pulsating code and pixelated visuals. This experimental collective's performance, loud, disorientating, and utterly brilliant, offered a stark yet fascinating contrast to the museum's regal history. One couldn't help but wonder what Queen Victoria and her husband would have made of such a display.

This immersive experience was a highlight of the museum's acclaimed "Friday Late" series, held in collaboration with the London Games Festival. The event presented a diverse array of independent video games and interactive installations, specifically exploring the dynamic interplay between play and performance. Armed with maps, attendees freely explored the museum's sprawling halls, corridors, and galleries in search of these unique exhibits.

Among the interactive highlights was the BAFTA-winning comedy game "Thank Goodness You’re Here!", projected onto a massive screen beneath a historic 13th-century spiral staircase. Further into the darkened Prince Consort's gallery, groups of friends could be heard giggling over "Sex With Friends," an amusing erotic physics-based puzzler where players maneuver ragdoll characters into consensual humorous encounters, much to the delight of onlookers.