Game Boy Screen Becomes Art Venue

A recent Finnish art exhibition harnessed an unusual medium: the Game Boy screen.

“Memory Limits” at the Finnish Museum of Games challenged artists to create a work that could be displayed on the handheld console’s 160 x 144 pixel screen. They had only four colours to work with, each a shade of green.

The museum noted that for many youngsters, the Game Boy was “their first private screen on which adventures could be had, often without the interference of parents.” It pointed out that players needed “a bit of imagination to bring these pixelated realms to life” and that the same was true for the artists and audience in the exhibition.

Housed at the Vapriikki Museum, the Finnish Museum of Games includes a permanent exhibition of more than 100 games (video and physical), 60 of them playable.