ART GAME: MIKHAIL MAKSIMOV'S CROWD SIGN: EMISSION (2022)
The latest project by Russian visionary artist and designer Mikhail Maksimov, Crowd Sign: Emission, is now available on itch.io. Players can draw signs and watch the action unfolds while exploring a monochrome, dreadful desert world in first person. Behind the relatively vague premise, Crowd Sign is a powerful commentary on the power of institutions and religion over the masses. An interactive lecture on the effects of propaganda and manipulation, belief and insubordination, the game uses the gesture of drawing as its main interface. Metaphors abound and the visuals, as in all Maksimov's projects, are unique. The artist describes the game as follows:
Crowd Sign: Emissionis a fascinating quest story about how power and religion function. About how unimportant at first glance actions can affect the big picture. At the beginning of the game you find yourself as a demiurge lord, controlling the masses of the population, choosing its fate as ruler. Only in the course of the game, when you get to control it on a human level, can you find out the reasons that moved the people to the actions depicted in the game.
Mikhail Maksimov, an artist and independent filmmaker, graduated from Moscow State Construction University and Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia. He participated at several exhibitions and festivals including 3-th, 4-th, 5-th Moscow modern art biennale, New Horizons International Film Festival, Wrozlaw, Poland, 34rd and 36th Moscow International Film Festival (2013, 2014), Manifesta 10, (2014) 12nd and 13th, 14th Kansk Video Festival (2013, 2014, 2015, best russian short winner), International Festival of Cinematographic Debuts “Spirit of fire” (Golden Taiga for the best short film), 71th Locarno Festival, 35th Hamburg Kurz Film Festival His metaphorical and poetic works use a game engine, 3D graphic, mathematical algorithms and neural networks. Selected exhibitions: Manifesta 10, Saint Petersburg,2014, Burning News, London, England, Hayward Gallery,2014, The Reasons of Sparking, Triumph Gallery, Moscow 2016, Hosting the Inhuman, Epicircle, V.A.C. Foundation, 2017, International Festival of Cinematographic Debuts “Spirit of fire”, 2018, 71th Locarno Featival, Parti Di Domani, International Competition.
LINK:LINK: Mikhail Maksimov