GameScenes is conducting a series of interviews with artists, critics, curators, and gallery owners operating in the field of Game Art, as part of an ongoing investigation of the social history of this fascinating artworld. Our goal is to illustrate the genesis and evolution of a phenomenon that changed the way game-based art is being created, experienced, and discussed today. The interview between Rewell Altunaga and Mathias Jansson took place via email in June 2013.
Rewell Altunaga (b. 1977, Camagüey) is a Cuban artist and curator, living and working in Havana. In 2002, Altunaga graduated from the Academia de Artes Plásticas Oscar Fernández Morera, Trinidad, Cuba where he studied painting, ceramics and photography and become fascinated by the potential of new media - especially video games - as platforms for artistic expression. In the past decade, Altunaga has produced a significant number of machinima, mods, and other kinds of works based on videogames. For instance, Coward (2007) is based on Delta Force: Black Hawk Down + Team Sabre (2006) and presents a series of re-enactments of "real" and simulated missions to Colombia, Somalia, and Iran. Ammu-nation (2006) is a mod of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). The Journey (2009) is both a mod and machinima based on Grand Theft Auto: IV. Set on a virtual replica of the Brooklyn Bridge with an eerie radio soundtrack, The Journey depicts an entire day in the span of a single gameplay hour. Mario's Dream (2011) focuses on virtual violence and presents scenes from several games - among others, Arma II , Grid, Kane & Lynch. The titular plumber's dream - or nightmare - is about the collusion between reality and fiction and the epistemological short circuits. He has participated in over thirty group exhibitions and has had eight personal shows. Altunaga's curatorial practice is equally impressive. He has curated several exhibitions, including "Brave New World" as part of the Tenth Havana Biennial, " The tip of the bullet, a decade of Cuban Art " and "Terms media". In 2012, he co-curated with José Manuel Noceda, the Cuban Pavilion - titled "Shared Creations" - at the 11th Havana Biennial. Now, Altunaga is co-curating with Liz Munsell an intriguing new exhibition at Tufts University titled "Cuban Virtuality: New Media Art from the Island" (September 5 - December 15 2013), which examines the unique applications of digital technologies in Cuban art through video installations, net art, performance documentation and interactive media made in the past ten years. For the record, this is the first exhibition of Cuban new media art held outside of Cuba, featuring Mauricio Abad, Alexandre Arrechea, Jairo Gutiérrez, Ernesto Leal, Glenda Léon, Levi Orta, Rodolfo Peraza, Naivy Pérez, Susana Pilar Delahanty Matienzo and José Rolando Rivero. (Matteo Bittanti)
Mathias Jansson talked to Altunaga about the influence of game aesthetics in his artistic and curatorial practice. The interview is available in both English and Spanish:
English
GameScenes: When did you become interested in videogames? What specific titles or genres did you find especially fascinating, and why?
Rewell Altunaga: In the early 1990s, the Socialist block collapsed and Eastern Europe remained sharply divided - a series of local conflicts and “settling of accounts” dominated the first part of the decade. This major historical event had been somehow prefigured by the nuclear accident of Chernobyl in 1986 and by the retreat of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1988. As a kid, unaware or uninterested about the small and big dramas that were occupying the minds of the so-called grown-ups, I spent my time playing videogames with my peers. We were eventually hired to play games professionally in underground circuits and we were happy to make extra money on top of our "official" salaries. An entire generation of Cubans grew up in the small worlds of Mario, Contra, Duke, Doom, Quake and other games. We experienced the 8, 16 and 32-bit generation, waging childish revolutions to save false princesses and illusory societies; while our confused generational parents – maddened by the disintegration of their nourishing power – had exhausted the “programmed answers” about Good and Evil. Moreover, their dream of “overthrowing” a bigger enemy had vanished and their conflict appeared to us even more remote and “virtual”. Today – between irreconcilable diasporas and incoherent professions – the “blessed children” are scattered throughout the world. Nowadays, my passion for commercial videogames is minimal, and it only applies to specific titles. I find myself attracted by the symbolical relief offered by a satirical parody like GTA, the controversial and paradoxical sandbox game whose new edition ignites an anti-ethical debate among a few political intriguers and intellectuals who seem to be more concerned with the irreverent programmed dis-order of Rockstar cities than the real and wild madness of humankind. I also love the subjectivity of some FPS that are trivially based on current conflicts; they allow the user to perceive simultaneously the impulses of death and destruction that underlie the super-structure, the market, and the consumption of current conflicts.
GameScenes: In the past, you have produced a series of video game mods and machinima. For instance, Coward (2007) is based on Delta Force: Black Hawk Down + Team Sabre (2006). Ammu-nation (2006) is a mod of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). The Journey (2009) is both a mod and machinima based on Grand Theft Auto. Why are you so fascinated by this medium? Why did you choose games to make art, especially machinima?
Rewell Altunaga: In my artistic practice I have always tried to create sudden breaks in the space and time continuum by creating specific links between the "real" and virtual worlds. The unlimited exchange of resources between the different “places” of illusion provides priceless inspiration. My work is based on an appropriation of the variables that constantly determine the search on different levels of “realities” – as such, video games may be understood as one of these levels– of the nature of what I experience in art as “source” of pure experience, immediate contact with reality. An attitude of apprehension as exercise of a “non-belief” or total negation. This strategy of localization of phases of mental alienation enables me to simultaneously escape and dismantle the control structures that rule and constrain social conscience. The objects and phenomena then all become a new perceptual material.
Rewell Altunaga, The Journey, 2009, Modification/Machinima, Video digital, 01:00:00, 1920 x 1080, 16.9 , color, sound round 5.1 (video courtesy of the artist)
GameScenes: How would you describe the Cuban Game Art scene? Are there many Cuban artists using videogames as their main inspiration to create art?
Rewell Altunaga: Very few artists have approached this area. Therefore, I would not say that there is a blossoming Game Art scene in Cuba. The fact that a gamer may become an “artist” or that an artist – in most cases, a casual player– comes across, incidentally, with game aesthetics and coding, are very different experiences and attitudes with regard to video games, to everyday life as well as art itself. There are few remarkable exceptions, however. Rodolfo Peraza, for instance, uses video games as method to create art, while Jairo Gutiérrez and Fernando Gutiérrez have explored games in a couple of works.
Just like the Internet, the video game culture in Cuba is developing in an underground atmosphere, somehow removed from the broader discourse; it can be said that the creative impulse of the initiators of Net Art –who approached the web as artistic support because it was an easy and economic access in a society in full post-communist crisis– in our case is the other way around. After two decades we find ourselves in a context of disconnection and new-media vigilance, which makes our work have an anti-establishment character in the face of the local power and control mechanisms, but also in the face of the world macro power. In Cuba, Internet is perceived as an illusion, a black world accessible illegally, and strictly linked to piracy – through proxi – the black market or hour quotas that represent more than half the average monthly salary of a common worker. Thus, it can be said that we participate in a process of double alienation, since every illusion is, in turn, alienating.
In this context, there are no official platforms to boost the development of video games; both in the creation and distribution, their production is practically null. The retrogressive dissemination and teaching media still stigmatize it as a form of capitalist alienation. It is still individual persons with small pirate businesses who supply consoles, games and information to a wide range of “home” players. The great paradox lies in the speed with which you may obtain a title after its launching. In a context of absolute control, is it perhaps the same persons who filter private information in the main national servers the ones who download and distribute thousands of gigabytes of movies, documentaries, series, software and video games perfectly organized in weekly entertainment packages delivered to the house doors? Does the system allow this smuggling of information as relief to the ludic abandonment reigning in society, or is it not conscious of it?
Even so, it cannot be said that the videogame moves in an illegal environment, because my country is the paradise of piracy, ideal for the art of “appropriation”; high accuracy licentiousness if you take into consideration that we form a genuine retro “social network”. Temporary loop that repeats the subtraction between colonizers and colonized, between conquerors and conquered. Fertile land for cultural studies of the “offline” societies of the 21st century.
GameScenes: You are currently co-curating with Liz Munsell an exhibition called Cuban Virtualities which opens September 5 2013 at Tufts University. What was the main idea behind this exhibition? Is Cuban Game Game Art represented?
Rewell Altunaga: Under the direction of María Magdalena Campos-Pons, a breach of exchange and possibilities opened for artistic practices of performance, relational, process or intervention variables, and with it, for Game Art and Net Art, fearfully avoided by the system of art institutions in Cuba; a system that should reconsider its effectiveness in the face of the circulation speed of activity in the 21st century, of the –ever greater– involved knowledge that mobilizes the artistic experience and in the face of an independent art market.
Cuban Virtualities emerged as the result of the work performed by Magda (FeFa) during the Eleventh Havana Biennial, a gesture that “corrodes” the old iron curtain that still floats above us, allowing collaboration links, the possibility of accomplishment for this project and others. In that curatorial work Liz and I had no specific interest on Game Art, and that is why only Rodolfo takes part with works in this genre. One can say that this exhibition is an attempt to revert the creative isolation from a context in which, sadly, art has been dosed as mere practice of economic survival. Typical error of territories where the human being has been reduced to a mass of frustrated wishes of individual opulence. A bug in the practice of egalitarianism.
Here we are presenting a new generation of Cuban artists the majority of whom, although unknown in the international context, occupy a key zone in the Island’s present symbolic production. We are not speaking of textures, forms or volumes of painting and sculpture; we are talking mainly of works, the majority of which were thought for the Internet by artists of a country where this service has been censured and replaced by a caricature officially known as “intranet”.
Practicing inverse engineering, dismantling, de-compiling, recycling, hacking, cracking, modifying, deconstructing, disarming or pirating technology is a practice that should not be judged when speaking of artistic purposes. We are not interested in a specific object as merchandise, but as symbol. We do not work creating entities; we face a contextualization process of territories in the surrounding reality. We appropriate fragments of different zones of the stage-situation of the present individual to give you back a symbolical, philosophical or poetical product that dialogues about common problems of these two societies facing each other and the rest of the world. To allow the “accident” that affects every kind of technology –according to Paul Virilio– is to allow its development and to civilize the technique. Beyond our rusty historical walls, we are interested in the reflection on the human being in contemporary times and the role that technology plays in it.
Spanish
GameScenes: ¿Cuándo comenzó tu interés por los videojuegos y qué tipo de juegos disfrutas y te inspiran?
Rewell Altunaga: A principio de la década del noventa –precedido por el accidente nuclear de Chernóbil en 1986 y por la retirada de las tropas soviéticas de Afganistán en 1988– se derrumba el bloque socialista y Europa del Este queda fragmentada entre guerras y «ajustes de cuentas». Siendo niños, aun sin interés por los grandes o pequeños dramas de los seres humanos, algunos amigos de la infancia nos reuníamos para alquilar videoconsolas de tercera a quinta generación, a familias que montaban discretos negocios clandestinos para obtener algún dinero extra a sus salarios oficiales.
En los pequeños mundos de Mario, Contra, Duke, Doom, Quake y otros juegos crecimos entre 8, 16 y 32 bits, librando pueriles revoluciones para salvar falaces princesas y sociedades ilusorias. Mientras que a nuestros confusos padres generacionales –alocados con la desintegración de su potencia nodriza– se le agotaban las «respuestas programadas» sobre el Bien y el Mal; al tiempo que se desvanecía su sueño de «derrocar» a un enemigo mayor, conflicto que para nosotros fue cada vez más remoto y «virtual».
En la actualidad –entre diásporas irreconciliables y profesiones inconexas– los «infantes vencedores» han quedado dispersos por el mundo. Hoy, mi pasión por los videojuegos comerciales se reduce cada vez más a títulos específicos. Inexorablemente me inclino ante el desahogo simbólico de una parodia satírica como GTA, controvertido y paradójico sand box que en cada edición genera un debate anti-ético entre unos cuantos politiqueros e intelectuales, a los que parece preocuparles más el irreverente des-orden programado de las ciudades Rockstar que la verdadera y desenfrenada locura de la humanidad. Elijo también la subjetiva de algunos FPS fútilmente basados en conflictos actuales; te permiten simultáneamente percibir las pulsiones de muerte y destrucción que subyacen a la superproducción, el mercado y el consumo de las guerras contemporáneas.
GameScenes: Has estado trabajando con modificaciones de juegos de video y machinima en obras como Coward (2007), adaptada del Delta Force: Black Hawk Down + Team Sabre (2006) y Ammu-nation (2006) que modifica Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002), The Journey (2009) Mod y machinima de GTA IV. ¿Puedes describir en qué temas o aspectos se enfocan tus obras y por qué crees que los videojuegos son un medio apropiado para presentarla?
Rewell Altunaga: Mediante procesos artísticos me he concedido establecer virajes de espacio y tiempo –creando nexos específicos con mundos virtuales– a través del intercambio ilimitado de recursos entre los diferentes «lugares» de la ilusión. Mi trabajo se ha caracterizado por una tendencia al uso de variantes apropiacionistas que determinan constantemente la búsqueda sobre diferentes niveles de «realidades» –puede entenderse los videojuegos como uno de estos niveles– de la naturaleza de lo que experimento desde el arte como «fuente» de experiencia pura, contacto inmediato con lo real. Actitud aprehensora como ejercicio de «no creencia» o negación total. Estrategia de localización de fases de alienación mental que me permite evadir y desmantelar las estructuras de control que gobiernan y limitan la conciencia social. Los objetos y fenómenos devienen entonces, todos objetos y fenómenos de la percepción.
GameScenes: ¿Hay algún escenario para el arte basado en juegos de video en Cuba? ¿Hay más artistas que usen los videojuegos como inspiración o para crear arte?
Rewell Altunaga: Muy pocos se han acercado a esta zona por lo que no se puede decir –como ha sucedido en otros géneros– que hay una eclosión de Game Art en Cuba. Que un gamer devenga «artista» o que un artista –apenas jugador casual– se entrecruce aisladamente con gráficos y programación, son experiencias y actitudes muy diferentes en relación al videojuego, al contexto cotidiano y al arte mismo. Rodolfo Peraza trabaja desde el videojuego como método. Jairo Gutiérrez y Fernando Rodríguez han explorado el género en un par de obras.
Al igual que Internet la cultura de videojuegos en Cuba se desarrolla en un ambiente underground, puede decirse que el impulso creativo de los iniciadores del Net Art –quienes se acercaron a la web como soporte artístico por ser de fácil y económico acceso dentro de una sociedad en plena crisis postcomunista– es en nuestro caso de carácter inverso. Dos décadas después nos encontramos en un contexto de desconexión y vigilancia new-mediática, lo que hace que nuestro trabajo adquiera un carácter antiestablishment frente a los mecanismos de poder y control locales, pero también ante el macropoder mundial. Para la sociedad cubana Internet ha sido una ilusión a la cual se accede desde la piratería –a través de proxis–, el mercado negro o cuotas por horas que representan más de la mitad del salario mensual estándar de un trabajador común. Entonces puede decirse que participamos de un proceso de alienación doble ya que toda ilusión es a su vez alienante.
En este contexto no existen plataformas oficiales para potenciar el desarrollo de videojuegos; tanto en la creación como en la distribución su producción es prácticamente nula. Todavía los retrógrados medios de difusión y enseñanza lo estigmatizan como una instancia de enajenación capitalista. Siguen siendo personas aisladas con pequeños negocios piratas los que suministran consolas, juegos e información a una amplia gama de jugadores «domésticos». La gran paradoja radica en la velocidad con que puedes adquirir un título después de su lanzamiento. En un contexto de control absoluto ¿son acaso las mismas personas que filtran la información privada en los principales servidores nacionales los que descargan y distribuyen miles de gigas de películas, documentales, series, softwares y videojuegos? perfectamente organizados en paquetes semanales de entretenimiento que son llevados hasta la puerta de la casa. ¿Permite el sistema este contrabando de información como aliviadero al desamparo lúdicro que impera en la sociedad o es inconsciente a ello?
Aun así, no se puede decir que el videojuego se mueve en un ambiente ilegal porque mi país es el paraíso de la piratería, ideal para el arte de «apropiación»; libertinaje de alta precisión si se cuenta que conformamos una genuina «red social» retro. Bucle temporal que repite la resta entre colonizadores y colonizados, entre conquistadores y conquistados. Terreno fértil para estudios culturales sobre las sociedades «offline» del siglo XXI.
Rewell Altunaga, Deserter, 2011, Modification of the videogame Armed Assault II: Reinforcements. (video excerpt courtesy of the artist)
GameScenes: En estos momentos compartes como curador junto a Liz Munsell, una exposición llamada Cuban Virtualities que abre el 5 de septiembre en la Universidad Tufts. ¿Puede hablarme del concepto de la exposición? ¿Están algunos otros artistas que trabajen con el Game Art como Rodolfo Peraza incluidos en la muestra?
Rewell Altunaga: Bajo el magisterio de Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons se abre una brecha de intercambio y posibilidades para prácticas artísticas de variantes performáticas, relacionales, procesuales o de intervención y con ello para el Game Art y el Net Art, temerosamente soslayados por el sistema de instituciones de arte en Cuba; sistema que debe replantearse su efectividad ante la velocidad con que circula la actividad en el siglo XXI, ante el conocimiento involucrado –cada vez mayor– que moviliza la experiencia artística y ante un mercado de arte independiente.
Cuban Virtualities surge como resultado del trabajo realizado por Magda (FeFa) durante la Oncena Bienal de La Habana, gesto que «corroe» el viejo telón de acero que aún flota sobre nosotros, permitiendo vínculos de colaboración: la posibilidad de realización para este y otros proyectos. En esta curaduría Liz y yo no teníamos un interés específico sobre el Game Art, motivo por el que solo Rodolfo participa con obras en este medio. Puede decirse que esta exhibición es un ensayo de revertir el aislamiento creativo de un contexto en el que tristemente el arte se ha dosificado como mera práctica de supervivencia económica. Típico error de territorios donde el ser humano se ha reducido a una masa de frustrados deseos de opulencia individual. Un bug en la práctica del igualitarismo.
Rewell Altunaga, Heaven, Modificación/Machinima. Video instalación, 00:22:22, 720 x 480, 4.3, color, estéreo. (fragmento)
Estamos presentando aquí una nueva generación de artistas cubanos, que aunque son en su mayoría desconocidos en el contexto internacional, ocupan una zona clave en la actual producción simbólica de la Isla. No hablamos de texturas, formas o volúmenes de la pintura y la escultura; hablamos principalmente de obras en su mayoría pensadas para internet, por artistas de un país donde este servicio ha sido censurado y sustituido por una caricatura conocida oficialmente como «intranet».
Dejar ver el «accidente» en cualquier tecnología –según Virilio– es permitir su desarrollo, civilizar la técnica. Más allá de nuestros oxidados muros históricos, nos interesa la condición del Ser en la contemporaneidad y el papel que la tecnología ocupa en ello.
Text: Mathias Jansson
Editing: Matteo Bittanti
Archive: Interviews I, Interviews II
