It’s a familiar sound. The music from the classic video game Pac-Man, which frankly, I typically played in the back of a corner candy store or arcade in Queens when I was a teen.

This time the setting was a little different: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has a new exhibition called “Never Alone, Video Games and Other Interactive Design.”

There are 35 video games on hand, 10 which visitors can play. There are other items on display, like an iPod and other examples of interactive design from the MoMA’s Collection.

“My job is to take things that you think are either invisible or just like utilitarian, you don’t pay any attention to them besides the fact that they work well, and then I put them in a museum and all of a sudden you have to pay attention,” said Paola Antonelli, the senior curator of Architecture and Design at the MoMA who organized the exhibition with curatorial assistant Anna Burckhardt.

It’s an opportunity to go back in time to remember games of Pong, Space Invaders and Asteroids, and see how things have changed with games like Minecraft. The exhibition is located in the MoMA’s street level gallery where admission is free. Passersby can even reminisce about their favorite games of the past on this screen facing West 53rd Street.

“There is a beautiful window in the street with a digital display, a massive digital display that I hope in the sad winter evenings will just beam joy to everyone,” said Antonelli.

Visitors will also learn about what we are all accustomed to seeing these days, like the power button on/off symbol and the “at” symbol, which dates back to the middle ages. It’s all a reminder that interactive design runs a great part of our lives.

“It’s important for people to recognize it. To know when it’s good, to know when it’s bad, demand better, and just be more powerful citizens,” said Antonelli.

The exhibition will all be at the MoMA through July 16th, 2023.

Find out more at: https://www.moma.org/