Minecraft maps launched to let gamers explore Tate artworks in 3D

Tate has joined forces with the video game company Minecraft to create virtual worlds where gamers explore its artworks in 3D.

Experts have created virtual environments, or "maps", based on paintings and sculptures in the Tate collection where players of the Minecraft game can explore the works and undertake activities and challenges relating to the themes of the art or investigate how they were made.

The first Tate Worlds maps will be available to download online on Monday [November 24] and feature The Pool of London, André Derain's 1906 painting where players can follow his exploration of the Thames, and Christopher Nevinson's 1920 futurist-style painting of New York called Soul of the Soulless City, where players can board a train past landmarks of the time and build skyscrapers.

Future works will explore themes including destruction, fantasy and play, inspired by artworks including John Singer Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885-6, and Cornelia Parker's sculpture of an exploded garden shed, Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View, 1991.

Jane Burton, creative director of Tate Media, said: "So many millions of people are playing in Minecraft we thought it was a natural fit to bring art to that."

Players pay a one-off fee to join Minecraft but then Tate Worlds can be downloaded free.