The art in Shing Yin Khor's virtual world is a snarky response to the game's built-in natural history museum, which is a nice touch.
In "Animal Crossing," artist Shing Yin Khor is re-creating iconic works of art, such as Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present, which is included in the game. Shing Yin Khor provided the image.

In the midst of a wave of museum closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, artists and game developers have discovered a rare opportunity to collaborate. According to Sarah Cascone of artnet News, the big popular game "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" now features an island overflowing with a digital wealth of reinterpreted artworks from the real world, thanks to installation artist Shing Yin Khor.

Following the outbreak, Khor's schedule has been disrupted for the foreseeable future. According to Nicole Carpenter of Polygon, the latest installment of the popular Nintendo video game, which drops players into a village inhabited by various anthropomorphic animals, ended up serving as an impromptu artistic outlet for him. When Khor first started playing the game, he saw it as a “space to goof off,” with a few tongue-in-cheek homages to great works of art produced through a handful of customization settings available through the interface.

Each player begins the “New Horizons” game by relocating to a desert island, where they can farm, customize, and establish a settlement with the assistance of a delightful cast of animals. Players can customise their home by collecting things from throughout the game's limited universe—and, through online features, they may visit islands that have been curated and made by their friends.

Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson and The Umbrellas by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, both of which were particularly suited to a beachfront location, were among the artworks that Khor meticulously cobbled together in the style of “Animal Crossing” with these tools. On Khor's island, there is also a writing homage to Barbara Kruger's Untitled (Your Body Is a Battleground) that reads, "Your vegetables are a battleground," which is a reference to her painting. (Root veggies are a highly sought-after Animal Crossing items in the game.)

Some of Khor's works are even interactive, such as the one below. For example, last week, they used a table and two chairs to reproduce Marina Abramovi's The Artist is Present, which is a performance piece. The artist then clothed their avatar in a simple red frock and asked members of the public to take part in the performance piece. There was a rush of players to play patron to the custom-built "museum" in the hour that followed, with roughly 15 of them making it into the coveted chair opposite Khor's Abramovi.

“[The game's] transport system does not make it easier for huge groups of people to visit,” Khor says in an interview with artnet News. (In order to get to the island, players must board a Dodo Airlines flight; even in the virtual world, air traffic might be a hindrance.) Polygon spoke with the artist, who stated that the experience "probably mirrored the effect of standing in line at a museum a little."

The experience looked to be worthwhile for those who were able to get into the "display," according to those who participated.

In an interview with artnet News, Khor says, "I believe that the theme of The Artist is Present in 'Animal Crossing' resonated very strongly with people at a time when we are increasingly separated from one another." “A surprising number of people reported that the event was emotionally draining.... Even if it is mediated by the internet and a computer game, the mere act of sitting in a chair and starring at another person without saying anything is a moving experience.”

Also motivating Khor to create their island outpost was an amusing sense of competition with the game's built-in natural history museum, which was operated by a knowledgeable owl named Blathers, who was known for his knowledge of the subject. However, after the museum has been unlocked through gameplay, three exhibits are shown, including fossils, fish, and insects—collections that can increase as the player acquires seasonal island treasures throughout the year.

Despite being a work of fiction, the museum is no slouch. According to Simon Parkin of the Guardian, "It is clearly the work of a group of people who enjoy these public spaces and wish to celebrate them for both their aesthetic and educational value."