GTA mods (2021) by Yeltsin Penado is
"A series of interactive modifications made for Grand Theft Auto's 3D Universe. The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise has developed a theme and lore which spans an array of titles: GTA: 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas; The settings of GTA games are fictional parodies of American cities, through the lens of a thematic snapshot in time. This series of works utilizes an experimental software that opens the GTA game files which are loaded into a computer's memory; this allows anyone to use GTA 3D models, assets and textures to create their own landscape using the game as their empty canvas. The modifications were produced on a software named: MEd v0.32 which allows you to change environmental elements within the video game. Liberty City is a rendition of New York, Vice City is a rendition of Miami, and San Andreas is intended to span a whole state comprised of three major cities and regions: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. These landscapes are characterized by American stereotypes surrounding the local culture, monuments, distribution of wealth, proliferation of crime, corruption, false idols, excess, waste, and lawlessness. Through modding GTA, our blank canvas reveals methods of manipulation through simulating a narrative through an unreal setting." (Yeltsin Penado)
Yeltsin Penado is Salvadoran-American Artist Born 1990 in Los Angeles, California. He studied Fine Arts and Community Arts Engagement at Otis College of Art and Design. Pen ado uses emerging and experimental software and technology to produce audio and video narratives. Yeltsin got into modding by researching open-source solutions to 3D Animation. This prompted him to research mods and machinima and take a closer look into why people decide to modify video games. He draws inspirations from Warren Spector’s: Game Manifesto, and publications like The Machinima Reader and theoretical writings from Erik Champion.
LINK: Yeltsin Penado (all images courtesy of the artist)
LINK: Penado on modding