Joan Pamboukes, Late Afternoon from Grand Theft Auto, 2008, Digital C-print, 30 x 40
Joan Pamboukes, Morning from Grand Theft Auto, 2008, Digital C-print, 30 x 40
Joan Pamboukes, Midnight from Grand Theft Auto, 2008, Digital C-print, 30 x 40
Joan Pamboukes, Mint Sky from Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas, 2006, Digital C-Print, 30 x 40
Joan Pamboukes,Sundown from Grand Theft Auto, 2008, Digital C-print, 30 x 40
"The enclosed landscape series document journeys through ephemeral, fictional worlds that exist only as electronic pixels and light. The images are evolved from the background environments within popular and infamously violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto (San Andreas), Kill Zone, Ace Combat, Metal Gear (Vietnam), and SoCom (US Navy Seals Special Forces).
These games provide living virtual worlds where clouds move past, the weather changes, and day becomes night. Though unreal and unnatural, these digital environments are alive. They offer a constantly changing time/space dynamic that is fueled by each player's hands as they confront new hyper-violent situations.
I am curious about the various ways that new technology affects our humanity. In the 21st Century, an increasing amount of time is spent experiencing fabricated digital fantasy(ies). As a society we have become comfortable experiencing life via a profusion of false realities (cinema, TV, Web-sites, art, computer games, digital imagery, etc., etc.). We spend much of our time in a sedentary state of silence with our eyes affixed to a screen.
I find it ironic that these beautifully serene landscapes were designed to house horrid simulations of unspeakable and appalling violence - a world where thievery, murder, warfare, and prostitution are the order of the day. Mesmerized by these atmospheric digital surroundings, I intended to capture and re-emphasize this intangible, sublime, and fleeting reality." (Joan Pamboukes, 2008)
Joan Pamboukes received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art inBoston and her MFA from New Jersey City University. Joan’s photography and video has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout theNew York City metropolitan area, including Galapagos Art Space, Chashama UpTown, The Arts Council of Princeton, City Without Walls and The Jersey City Museum. Joan teaches photography and media arts at The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Long Island University in Brooklyn, and New Jersey City University.
link: Joan Pamboukes (All images courtesy of the artist)
Submitted by Matteo Bittanti
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