The Appropriation of Virtual Spaces in Videogames

Abstract

Video games have transcended their role as mere entertainment platforms and have become spaces for artistic creation and exploration. Over the past decades, numerous artists have appropriated these virtual environments, modifying their structure and aesthetics to create new experiences. This research analyses how contemporary artists, using video games as a tool, have engaged in conceptual re-signification through strategies such as modding, the appropriation of virtual spaces for performance creation, and collective artworks.

The study is based on the writings of Marcel Duchamp and his concept of the readymade, where pre-existing everyday objects can be transformed into art through an artist's recontextualization. Applying this contemporary art principle, artists such as Cory Arcangel, Eva and Franco Mattes, JODI, and Total Refusal have intervened in video games like Counter-Strike (Valve Corporation, 2000) and Grand Theft Auto (Rockstar North,2013), among others, to appropriate their spaces and explore new forms of artistic expression.

The results of these practices have been recognized within the field of digital art and contemporary art, sparking debates about immersion, interactivity, and social critique within video games. In conclusion, video games have evolved to establish themselves as a legitimate and continuously evolving artistic medium, with a creative potential that continues to redefine itself over the years.